George Knapton (London 1698 - 1778), attributable Portrait of a young aristocratic girl sitting near a fountain in a garden in the company of a lamb Oil on canvas (127 x 102 cm / Framed 143 x 119 cm) Full details of this work can be found directly at the following - LINK - We are showing you this splendid example of eighteenth-century English portraiture, which depicts a young girl portrayed in the garden of her estate and sitting near a bubbling fountain; one hand is placed on the back of a lamb, a convention that we often find in portraiture of this period, which brings back romantic evocations of pastoral simplicity popular in England at the time. The girl is depicted in a silk dress, with sapphire blue hues which, although extremely simple, is very refined and finished with great attention to detail. On her head she wears a hairpin in pure white lace embellished with a rose, and in her hands she holds a bud, while a garland of small flowers surrounds the neck of the small lamb next to her. It is probably the girl's pet but which, in the portrait setting, also gives the portrait a strong symbolic connotation; in fact, we know that the animal is the iconographic attribute of Saint Agnes, patron saint of virgins and women about to be married, symbolizing her chaste innocence. It is therefore plausible that this painting was therefore commissioned as an engagement portrait. Scrutinizing with attention the compositional and stylistic details we are inclined to attribute the authorship to the hand of the painter George Knapton (London 1698 - 1778), a London portrait painter much appreciated and known also for his pastel paintings as well as oil. In his career he painted several portraits of children and young people of the English aristocracy, very similar in type to ours. As an example, we can mention: the 'Portrait of Katherine Miller with Her Spaniel' (private collection), the 'Portrait of Elizabeth Hatch in a Blue Dress' (Christie's, London, 08 Jun 2006), the 'Portrait of a Girl Sitting in a Garden' (Sotheby's, London, 30 Nov 2000), the 'Portrait of a Girl' (Bonhams, London, 04 Apr 2023), the 'Portrait of William Napier' (Christie's, London, November 1991) and finally the group portrait depicting 'The Second Earl of Egmont and His Sisters in a Landscape' (originally Avon Castle collection, Hampshire). He was a pupil of Jonathan Richardson from 1715 to 1722 and in 1720 one of the founders of the Academy of St. Martin's Lane together with Louis Chéron and John Vanderbank. He spent seven years in Italy, from 1725 to 1732, where he acquired a considerable knowledge of the ancient masters and was a founding member of the Society of Dilettanti, established in Rome in the early 1730s, and as official portraitist, between 1741 and 1749 he executed twenty-three portraits of members of the society in a variety of costumes. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The painting is sold complete with a pleasant golden frame and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and an illustrative iconographic sheet. We take care of and organize the transport of purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers. Should you wish to see this or other works in person, we will be happy to welcome you to our new gallery in Riva del Garda, in Viale Giuseppe Canella 18. We are waiting for you! Contact us for any information or to organize a visit, we will be happy to answer you. Follow us also on: INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/galleriacastelbarco/?hl=it FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/galleriacastelbarco/