German-born and a student of Rembrandt, Kneller came to Britain with his brother and fellow painter John Zacharias, where he succeeded Sir Peter Lely as the foremost portraitist in the country, his dominance lasting from the reign of Charles II to George I. His most famous portraits were those of the so-called 'Kit-Cat Club', and a series of European monarchs. In 1711 he formed the Kneller Academy of Painting and Drawing, which allowed him to influence futuer generations of portraitists.A conceited man, Kneller did not wish for a Westminster Abbey burial because he stated 'They bury fools there'. However, a memorial sculpture by Rysbrack eventually found its way into the south aisle of the Abbey's choir. Kneller died in the parish of St Giles In The Field and may have briefly been interred there, as he appears in their burial register; but he was transferred to a family vault at St Mary's Twickenham, where he rests not far from his rival Alexander Pope.
German-born and a student of Rembrandt, Kneller came to Britain with his brother and fellow painter John Zacharias, where he succeeded Sir Peter Lely as the foremost portraitist in the country, his dominance lasting from the reign of Charles II to George I. His most famous portraits were those of the so-called 'Kit-Cat Club', and a series of European monarchs. In 1711 he formed the Kneller Academy of Painting and Drawing, which allowed him to influence futuer generations of portraitists.A conceited man, Kneller did not wish for a Westminster Abbey burial because he stated 'They bury fools there'. However, a memorial sculpture by Rysbrack eventually found its way into the south aisle of the Abbey's choir. Kneller died in the parish of St Giles In The Field and may have briefly been interred there, as he appears in their burial register; but he was transferred to a family vault at St Mary's Twickenham, where he rests not far from his rival Alexander Pope.
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