Henry Somerset, 2nd Duke of Beaufort KG (1684-1714)
Michael Dahl (Stockholm 1659 - London 1743)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1702 - circa 1712
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1270 x 1016 mm (50 x 40 in)
Order this imageCollection
Powis Castle and Garden, Powys
NT 1180909
Caption
Henry Somerset was the grandson and heir of the 1st Duke of Beaufort. In this portrait he is shown wearing his Ducal robes with his coronet in his hand. He enjoyed a close acquaintance with Queen Anne, who he entertained at Badminton in 1702 – the year of her coronation. The Queen later appointed him Captain of the Gentlemen Pensioners and made him a Knight of the Garter in 1712. He married three times: firstly to Mary Sackville in 1702, who died in 1705; and secondly to Rachel Noel in 1706, who died in 1709. He married his third wife, Mary Osborne, in 1711, though he died just three years later.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Henry, 2nd Duke of Beaufort KG (1684-1714), in Ducal Robes by Michael Dahl (Stockholm 1656 – London 1743), circa 1702-12. A three-quarter length portrait, wearing robes and holding a ducal coronet in his right. Previously thought to be William Herbert, 2nd Marquess of Powis, of whom no likeness has survived, except perhaps a portrait at Coughton Court (COU/P/16).
Provenance
Accepted by HM Treasury on 21st March, 1963 in lieu of tax and conveyed to National Trust ownership on 29th November 1963. Recorded at Powis Castle in Montgomery Collections Vol VI P.148 in 1873; recorded as William 2nd Marquis and Duke of Powis ob.1745. Three quarter length. 40 by 40. In his peers robes holding ducal coronet. George Herbert, 4th Earl of Powis made notes in the 20th century that in 1891 he found this painting as a full length portrait in the Ballroom with badly painted legs added to it. He had it returned to 3/4 length and restored by Dyers of Moneet? Street and hung in Berkeley Square. At the time of his notes the National Gallery had identified it as Edward, Marquis of Worcester, 1st Duke of Beaufort.
Credit line
Powis Castle, The Powis Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Michael Dahl (Stockholm 1659 - London 1743)
References
"Portraits connected with Montgomeryshire - at Powis Castle, Walcot, Oakly Park .....", Montgomeryshire Collections, 1873, vol. VI, p.148 Nisser 1927 Wilhelm Nisser, Michael Dahl and the Contemporary Swedish School of Painting in England, Uppsala, 1927, p. 71, No. 125 Steegman 1957 John Steegman, A Survey of Portraits in Welsh Houses, Vol.I: North Wales, Cardiff, 1957, no. 29