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Lot Essay
The sitter has traditionally been identified as Ferdinand Albrecht II, Duke of Brunswick (1680-1735), a close friend of King George II, and at one stage the picture bore an inscription by a later hand in the upper left corner: Prince Ferdinand/of Brunswick/1759.
However, it has recently been suggested that the coat-of-arms on the horse's flank are a simplified version of the arms of the Wittelsbach family, the Dukes of Bavaria.
John Wooton was the pre-eminent painter of sporting and landscape subjects for most of the eighteenth century. Little is known of his family, although as a young boy he may have served as a page to Lady Anne Somerset, daughter of the Duke of Beaufort, on her marriage to Thomas, later 2nd Earl of Coventry in 1690. From these families he appears to have received encouragement to take up painting, and perhaps also the introduction to his master, the Dutch painter Jan Wyck (1652-1700). Wootton was in London by 1706, and was a founder member of the Academy of Painting and Drawing in 1711. By 1717 he had been elected a steward of the Virtuosi Club of St Luke's.
Wootton's many patrons included King George II, Frederick, Prince of Wales, Sir Robert Walpole, and many of the most prominent members of the aristocracy.
However, it has recently been suggested that the coat-of-arms on the horse's flank are a simplified version of the arms of the Wittelsbach family, the Dukes of Bavaria.
John Wooton was the pre-eminent painter of sporting and landscape subjects for most of the eighteenth century. Little is known of his family, although as a young boy he may have served as a page to Lady Anne Somerset, daughter of the Duke of Beaufort, on her marriage to Thomas, later 2nd Earl of Coventry in 1690. From these families he appears to have received encouragement to take up painting, and perhaps also the introduction to his master, the Dutch painter Jan Wyck (1652-1700). Wootton was in London by 1706, and was a founder member of the Academy of Painting and Drawing in 1711. By 1717 he had been elected a steward of the Virtuosi Club of St Luke's.
Wootton's many patrons included King George II, Frederick, Prince of Wales, Sir Robert Walpole, and many of the most prominent members of the aristocracy.