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SIR JAMES THORNHILL (1676-1734)

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 880 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SIR See also:JAMES See also:THORNHILL (1676-1734)  , See also:English See also:historical painter, was See also:born at See also:Melcombe Regis, See also:Dorset, in 1676, of an See also:ancient but impoverished See also:county See also:family . His See also:father died while he was See also:young, but he was befriended by his maternal See also:uncle, the celebrated Dr See also:Sydenham, and apprenticed to See also:Thomas Highmore, See also:serjeant-painter to See also:King See also:William III., a connexion of the See also:Thornhill family . Little is known regarding his See also:early career . About 1715 he visited See also:Holland, See also:Flanders and See also:France; and, having obtained the patronage of See also:Queen See also:Anne, be was in 1719-1720 appointed her serjeant-painter in See also:succession to High-more, and was ordered to decorate the interior of the See also:dome of St See also:Paul's with a See also:series of eight designs, in See also:chiaroscuro heightened with See also:gold, illustrative of the See also:life of that apostle—a See also:commission for which See also:Louis See also:Laguerre had previously been selected by the commissioners for the repair of the See also:cathedral . He also designed and decorated the See also:saloon and See also:hall of See also:Moor See also:Park, Herts, and painted the See also:great hall at See also:Blenheim, the princesses' apartments at See also:Hampton See also:Court, the hall and See also:staircase of the See also:South See also:Sea See also:Company, the See also:chapel at Wimpole, the staircase at See also:Easton-Neston, See also:Northamptonshire, and the hall at See also:Greenwich See also:Hospital, usually considered his most important and successful See also:work, upon which he was engaged from 1708 to 1727 . Among his easel pictures are the See also:altar-pieces of All Souls and Queen's See also:College chapels, See also:Oxford, and that in Melcombe Regis See also:church; and he executed such portrait subjects as that of See also:Sir See also:Isaac See also:Newton, in Trinity College, See also:Cambridge, and the picture of the See also:House of See also:Commons in 1730, in the See also:possession of the See also:earl of See also:Hardwicke, in which he was assisted by See also:Hogarth, who married Jane, his only daughter . He also produced a few etchings in a slight and sketchy but effective manner, and executed careful full-See also:size copies of See also:Raphael's cartoons, which now belong to the Royal See also:Academy . About 1724 he See also:drew up a proposal for the See also:establishment of a royal academy of the arts, and his See also:scheme had the support of the See also:lord treasurer See also:Halifax, but See also:government declined to furnish the needful funds . Thornhill then opened a See also:drawing-school in his own house in See also:James See also:Street, Covent See also:Garden, where instructioncontinued to be given till the See also:time of his See also:death . He acquired a considerable See also:fortune by his See also:art, and was enabled to repurchase his family See also:estate of Thornhill, See also:Dorsetshire . In 1715 he was knighted by See also:George I., and in 1719 he represented Melcombe Regis in See also:parliament, a See also:borough for which Sir See also:Christopher See also:Wren had previously been member . Having been removed from his See also:office by some court intrigue, and suffering from broken See also:health and repeated attacks of See also:gout, he retired to his See also:country seat, where he died on the 4th of May 1734 .

His son James, also an artist, succeeded his father as serjeant-painter to George II. and was appointed " painter to the See also:

navy." The high contemporary estimate of Sir James Thornhill's See also:works has not since been confirmed ; in spite of Dr Young, " See also:late times " do not " Understand How Raphael's See also:pencil lives in Thornhill's hands." He is weak in drawing—indeed, when dealing with complicated figures he was assisted by Thomas See also:Gibson; and, ignorant of the great monumental art of See also:Italy, he formed himself upon the See also:lower See also:model of Le Brun ..

End of Article: SIR JAMES THORNHILL (1676-1734)
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