Depicting the British Elite: Portraits by Sir Peter Lely and Godfrey Kneller with Dr Eugene Barilo von Reisberg

This lecture delves into the art and lives of Sir Peter Lely (1618-80) and Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723), whose careers reflect the traditional patterns of patronage offered to foreign-born and trained portrait specialists at the British Court between the mid-seventeenth and mid-eighteenth centuries. It is to their brush that we owe acres of naked shoulders, swirling ribbons, cascading tresses, and gleaming armour of the social elites and celebrities of the day. The lecture explores how the two artists modernised Van Dyck’s idealised vision of British upper classes, adapting it in turn to the changing circumstances of the Restoration, late Stuart, and early Georgian eras.

Dr Eugene Barilo Von Reisberg is a Melbourne-based scholar and art adviser, who shares his passion for art, history, and culture from the eighteenth century to the present day through regular lectures and publications. He has completed a doctoral dissertation on Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805-1873), the 19th-century elite portrait specialist, and is currently working towards a catalogue raisonné of the artist’s works. 

Your ticket includes tea or Market Lane coffee served before the presentation, and time to browse our exclusive range of books, gifts, and homewares at TJC Emporium.

This event is presented on-site at The Johnston Collection. Please see your ticket for details. NOTE: Tickets for this event do not include access to our house museum, Fairhall. Guided tours of the current exhibition can be booked separately.

This event is supported by The Colin Holden Charitable Trust.

Image: Sir Peter Lely (1618-80). Portrait of Anne Hyde, Duchess of York (1637-71) (detail) . c.1662, oil on canvas, Collection of HM King Charles III.