KNAPTON, George - b. 1698 London, d. 1778 London

English painter and draftsman. He was a student of Jonathan Richardson the Elder (1665-1745). In 1740, he went to Italy and published an illustrated description of the excavations at Herculaneum. He became Keeper of paintings for the King’s Pictures in 1765. With Arthur Pond, he made a series of engravings of the most famous paintings. The most notable of these are his landscapes after Guercino.

Knapton is noted for his paintings and portraits in pastel. Knapton was a founder-member of the Roman Club in 1723, a society of literary men and artists with aspirations to connoisseurship.

Major, later Lieutenant Colonel John Caulfeild

This imposing portrait of Major John Caulfeild (d. 1752), Commander-in-chief of the British forces on the Island of Roatan, was painted after the sitter returned to England in 1743, and when the artist George Knapton was particularly busy with military and naval commissions for commemorative portraits.

Depicted three-quarter-length and seated at a table, Knapton endows Major Caulfeild with an easy dignity of office. Particular care has been taken to accurately portray the map displayed on the table.