Godfrey Kneller, German, 1646-1723
Title: Portrait of Godert de Ginkel (1630-1703), 1st Earl of Athlone (1630-1703), with the Taking of Athlone, County Wethmeath
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
125 x 100 cm
Credit Line: Purchased, 1899
Object Number: NGI.486
DescriptionBorn in Utrecht and educated for a military career, de Ginkell obtained a commission in 1672. He accompanied William of Orange to England in 1688, and fought in the Battle of the Boyne and at the siege of Limerick in 1690. He remained in Ireland after William's departure, engaging in lengthy negotiations with the Jacobite side for a settlement. In spring 1691 he laid siege to Athlone, and two weeks later defeated the Irish Jacobite army in the bloody battle of Aughrim. He negotiated the surrender of Galway and the capitulation of Limerick later that year. His great success as a soldier was in keeping together an army of extraordinary diversity. The ribbon and badge of the Danish order of the Elephant that de Ginkell wears in the picture were added later. Godfrey Kneller was the leading English portrait of his day, his style influencing artists for almost a century.