Portrait of John Locke (1632-1704)

Relating to a portrait by Godfrey Kneller, executed in 1697 and now in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, the present drawing depicts Locke as an old man. Kneller's portrait hung at Houghton Hall, the Norfolk home of Sir Robert Walpole, who Richardson painted twice, as the two men moved in the same circles. Reproduced in a number of prints, Kneller's image was extremely well-known, and the present drawing seems to sit between the painting and the prints by Francis Kyte and John Smith in the slight angling of the head, and the engagement of the eyes. By this date Locke had all but retired from public life and was living with his friend Sir Francis Masham at his house, Oates, in north Essex. Richardson had drawn another portrait, probably several years earlier, after Michael Dahl (British Museum, 1902,0822.23).

We are grateful to Susan Owens for her help in preparing this catalogue entry.