JOHN VANDERBANK (BRITISH 1694-1739)PORTRAIT OF RICHARD JENNENS (1710-1777)Oil on canvasSigned and dated 1739 (lower right)127 x 102cm (50 x 40 in.)Literature:Sir George Sitwell, A brief history of Weston Hall, Northamptonshire, and of the families that possessed it, London, privately printed 1927, p. 34.F. Bamford, 'Weston Hall, Northamptonshire - I: The Home of Sir Sacheverell and Lady Sitwell', Country Life, 22 January 1976, p. 178, fig. 9.F. Sitwell, Weston Hall, Towcester, Northamptonshire: A Brief Guide, Northampton, 1993, p. 5.Catalogue Note:Richard Jennens (1710-73) was the only son and heir of Mrs Susanna Jennens (1688-1760) of Weston Hall, which he inherited on his mother's death in 1760. In 1731, he went on a grand tour to the continent where he bought Dutch-school paintings (Sir George Sitwell, A brief history of Weston Hall, Northamptonshire, and of the families that possessed it, London, privately printed 1927, p. 35). The same year, he succeeded to Princethorp, Warwickshire, sold later to purchase Thorp Mandeville, near Weston, in 1742-43. He died of gout age sixty-three in Bath. For unknown reasons, his will was deemed invalid, and he died intestate. His estate was thus divided equally between his two sisters; Weston Hall went to Mary Barnardiston, and Thorp Mandeville to Anne Peareth.John Vanderbank (1694-1739) was an English painter and illustrator of Dutch origin, who from 1711 to 1720 worked at the court painter, Godfrey Kneller's Academy before establishing his own school in St. Martin's Lane with fellow artist, Louis Chéron. As a portrait painter, he undertook Royal commissions including George I (1726; Windsor Castle, Berkshire, RCIN 404412) and Queen Caroline (1736; Goodwood House, West Sussex), in addition to other notable figures like Sir Isaac Newton (1725; version, London, Royal Society) and Thomas Guy (London, Guy's Hospital).