James Thornhill
Sir James Thornhill (born July 25, 1675 in Melcombe Regis , Dorset , † May 13, 1734 in Weymouth ) was an English painter .
He learned from Thomas Highmore and was then particularly active in the field of decorative history painting under the influence of the French school. He decorated, among other things, the dome of St Paul's Cathedral , the great hall of Blenheim Palace , the Chapel of Wimpole , the great hall of Greenwich Hospital , as well as Hampton Court Palace and Easton Neston with paintings and also painted portraits and landscapes.
Assembly of the gods in Olympus
Draft for a ceiling painting for Greenwich Hospital
On May 2, 1720, King George I proposed him to Knight Bachelor . He was the first Briton to be ennobled for his artistic achievements.
In the 1720s Thornhill set up a painting and drawing school in his private London home. a. William Hogarth was his student. He ran away with his teacher's daughter in 1729 and secretly married her.
In the last years of his life, Thornhill's star faded increasingly. There were hardly any commissions for him because other artists were favored by the nobility.
Selection of works
- Ezechiel Spanheim, canvas, 124 × 102 cm Cambridge, Trinity College.
- Assembly of the gods in Olympus , canvas, 46 × 52 cm London, Tate Gallery.
- Herakles, canvas, 107 × 71 cm Oxford, All Souls College.
- Odysseus, canvas, 107 × 71 cm Oxford, All Souls College.
- Pallas Athene with the Allegories of Peace and Prosperity, canvas, 183 × 287 cmLondon, Guildhall Art Gallery.
- Sir Isaac Newton , canvas, 127 × 99 cm Cambridge, Trinity College.
Web links
- Works by James Thornhill at Zeno.org .
Individual evidence
- ^ William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England. Volume 2, Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 281.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Thornhill, James |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British painter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 25, 1675 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Melcombe Regis , Dorset |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 13, 1734 |
| Place of death | Weymouth |