49 by 39in. (124.5 by 99.1cm)

Title: PORTRAIT OF CATHERINE, DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE, AS SAINT CATHERINE
Note: Catherine Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (1700-1777), formerly Catherine Hoskins (or Hoskyn), was the wife of William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire, and mother of the 4th Duke, who inherited large estates in Ireland, including Lismore Castle in Waterford, from the estate of the Earl of Cork. This painting is thought to have been painted circa 1725.This painting was acquired by a couple in Manchester, CT, circa 1968, who corresponded with Robin Gibson of the National Portrait Gallery, London to acquire identification of sitter and attribution of artist (Gibson identified the artist as almost certainly Charles Jervas), the work was later consigned June 13th, 1991 at Sotheby's, NY and described as "Charles Jervas; Portrait of a Lady as St. Catherine, etc", the painting did not sell and was gifted to the Hartford Art School Inc. on December 22nd, 1998, with a copy of a 1991 auction estimate from Sotheby's, where it was stored in archives for twenty years until being consigned for auction at Winter Associates in 2018 to further the mission of the Hartford Art School.Charles Jervas was born in Clonlisk, County Offaly, in 1675. He studied in London under Sir Godfrey Kneller between 1694 and 1695.In 1699 he travelled to Paris and Rome before returning to London in 1709 where he found success as a portrait painter.Painting portraits of the city's intellectuals, among them such personal friends as Jonathan Swift and the poet Alexander Pope (both in the National Portrait Gallery, London), Charles Jervas became a popular artist.Jervas succeeded Kneller as Principal Portrait Painter to King George I in 1723. He lived in London until his death in 1739.

oil on canvas