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{{Short description|English engraver and antiquary}}
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[[File:George Vertue.png|thumb|Engraving (published in 1794) after [[Jonathan Richardson]]'s painted portrait of Vertue from 1733]]
{{about|the 18th-century engraver and antiquary|the 19th-century publisher|George Virtue}}
⚫
'''George Vertue''' (1684 – July 24, 1756) was an [[England|English]] [[engraver]] and [[antiquary]], whose notebooks on [[British art]] of the first half of the 18th century are a valuable source for the period.
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
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[[File:George Vertue by Richardson.jpg|thumb|George Vertue, portrait by [[Jonathan Richardson]] (1733).]]
⚫
'''George Vertue''' {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FSA}} (1684 – 24 July 1756) was an English [[engraver]] and [[antiquary]], whose notebooks on [[British art]] of the first half of the 18th century are a valuable source for the period.


==Life==
==Life==
Vertue was born in 1684 in [[St Martin’s-in-the-Fields]], [[London]], his father, perhaps a tailor and mother are noted as 'Roman Catholic'. At the age of 13, he was apprenticed to a prominent [[heraldic]] engraver of French origin who became bankrupt and returned to France.
Vertue was born in 1684 in [[St Martin-in-the-Fields]], London, his father, perhaps a tailor, and mother are noted as 'Roman Catholic'. At the age of 13, he was apprenticed to a prominent [[heraldic]] engraver of French origin who became bankrupt and returned to France. Vertue worked seven years under [[Michael Vandergucht]], before operating independently. He was amongst the first members of [[Godfrey Kneller]]'s London Academy of Painting, who had employed him to engrave portraits.<ref name=DNB00>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Vertue, George|last=O'Donoghue|first=Freeman Marius |volume=58 |pages=285–286}} citing: Walpole's ''Anecdotes of Painting''; Nichols's ''Literary Anecdotes'', ii. 246; Chester's ''Westminster Abbey Reg.''; Dodd's manuscript ''Hist. of English Engravers'' in [[Brit. Mus.]] (Addit. MS. 33406).</ref> It was there that he became a pupil of [[Thomas Gibson (artist)|Thomas Gibson]], a leading portrait painter.
Vertue worked seven years under [[Michael Vandergucht]], before operating independently. He was amongst the first members of [[Godfrey Kneller]]'s London Academy of Painting, who had employed him to engrave portraits.<ref name=DNB00>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Vertue, George|last=O'Donoghue|first=Freeman Marius|authorlink=Freeman Marius O'Donoghue|volume=|pages=|quote=citing: [Walpole's ''Anecdotes of Painting''; Nichols's ''Literary Anecdotes'', ii. 246; Chester's ''Westminster Abbey Reg.''; Dodd's manuscript ''Hist. of English Engravers'' in [[Brit. Mus.]] (Addit. MS. 33406).]}}</ref> It was there that he became a pupil of [[Thomas Gibson (artist)|Thomas Gibson]], the leading portrait painter.


Vertue had a deep interest in [[antiquarian]] research, and much of his labour was given to this subject. From 1713 on, Vertue was a keen researcher on details of the history of British art, accumulating about forty volumes of notebooks. He was a member of the [[Rose and Crown Club]], with [[William Hogarth]], [[Peter Tillemans]] and other artists and connoisseurs, and kept some records of it.<ref>Coombs, Katherine, 'Lens [Laus] family (per. c. 1650–1779), artists' in ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' (Oxford University Press, 2004)</ref> His travels to sites across England, with enthusiasts such as [[Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer|Edward Harley]] (Earl of Oxford), Lord Coleraine<!-- Henry Hare, 3rd Baron Coleraine --> and others, was recorded in Vertue's highly detailed drawings and notes. In 1717 he was appointed official engraver to the [[Society of Antiquaries of London|Society of Antiquaries]], the same year as its formal foundation. Most of the illustrations in ''[[Vetusta Monumenta]]'', up to his date of death, are his work.<ref name="DNB00" />
Vertue had a deep interest in [[antiquarian]] research, and much of his labour was given to this subject. From 1713 on, Vertue was a keen researcher on details of the history of British art, accumulating about forty volumes of notebooks. He was a member of the [[Rose and Crown Club]], with [[William Hogarth]], [[Peter Tillemans]] and other artists and connoisseurs, and kept some records of it.<ref>{{cite ODNB|last=Coombs|first=Katherine|title = Lens [Laus] family (per. c. 1650–1779), artists|id=76205 }}</ref> His travels to sites across England, with enthusiasts such as [[Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer|Edward Harley]] (Earl of Oxford), Lord Coleraine<!-- Henry Hare, 3rd Baron Coleraine --> and others, were recorded in Vertue's highly detailed drawings and notes. In 1717 he was appointed official engraver to the [[Society of Antiquaries of London|Society of Antiquaries]], the same year as its formal foundation, and the only engraver to be made a Fellow of the Society.<ref>{{cite ODNB |last=Myrone |first=Martin |id=28252 |date=2008 |title=Vertue, George (1684–1756), engraver and antiquary }}</ref> Most of the illustrations in ''[[Vetusta Monumenta]]'', up to his date of death, are his work.<ref name="DNB00" />


After the death of the Earl of Oxford in 1741, Vertue was patronised by the [[Duchess of Portland]] and others. The [[Duke of Norfolk]]{{Disambiguation needed|date=June 2011}}<!-- Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk --> commissioned a work after [[Van Dyck]] of the Earl of Arundel and his family. He produced a catalogue detailing the collections of the royal family, at the request of [[Frederick, Prince of Wales]], an avid buyer of the engraver's work.<ref name="DNB00" />
After the death of the Earl of Oxford in 1741, Vertue was patronised by the [[Margaret Bentinck, Duchess of Portland|Duchess of Portland]] and others. The [[Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk|Duke of Norfolk]] commissioned a work after [[Van Dyck]] of the Earl of Arundel and his family. He produced a catalogue detailing the collections of the royal family, at the request of [[Frederick, Prince of Wales]], an avid buyer of the engraver's work.<ref name="DNB00" />


A portrait of Vertue was painted in 1715 by Gibson, his widow donated this to The Society of Antiquaries; Vertue had produced an engraving of this<!-- , now rare -->. A later painting, of the artist aged around 50, by [[Jonathan Richardson]] was acquired by the [[National Portrait Gallery (London)|National Portrait Gallery]], a plate of this by [[Thomas Chambers]] was engraved for the Walpole's ''Anecdotes.'' A 1849 edition of Walpole's book contained an engraving, by [[George Thomas Doo]], of a self-portrait—sitting in a library—that shows him displaying a portrait of the Earl of Oxford; this was previously published in 1821 as a lithograph. Another self portrait, with his wife on their wedding-day, was etched by William Humphrey.
A portrait of Vertue was painted in 1715 by Gibson, his widow donated this to the Society of Antiquaries; Vertue had produced an engraving of this<!-- , now rare -->. A later painting, of the artist aged around 50, by [[Jonathan Richardson]] was acquired by the [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]], a plate of this by [[Thomas Chambers (artist)|Thomas Chambers]] was engraved for Walpole's ''Anecdotes.'' An 1849 edition of Walpole's book contained an engraving, by [[George Thomas Doo]], of a self-portrait—sitting in a library—that shows him displaying a portrait of the Earl of Oxford; this was previously published in 1821 as a lithograph. Another self-portrait, with his wife on their wedding-day, was etched by [[William Humphrey (engraver)|William Humphrey]]. Richardson also drew the profile used in [[James Basire]]'s plate in Nichols's ''Literary Anecdotes.''<ref name="DNB00" />
Richardson also draw the profile used in [[James Basire]]'s plate in Nichols's ''Literary Anecdotes.''<ref name="DNB00" />


Vertue died in London on July 24, 1756, and was buried in [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref name="DNB00" />
Vertue died in London on 24 July 1756 and was buried in [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref name="DNB00" />


Vertue's brother James (d. 1765) was an artist in Bath who produced the interior view of the [[Bath Abbey|abbey]] that was engraved him. The second of his three brothers, Peter, was a dancing master of Chelmsford.<ref name="DNB00" />
Vertue's brother James (d. 1765) was an artist in Bath who produced the interior view of the [[Bath Abbey|abbey]] that was engraved by him. The second of his three brothers, Peter, was a dancing master of Chelmsford.<ref name="DNB00" />


==Works==
==Works==
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* Rapin's ''History of England,'' Knapton Brothers edition, 1736. A task that took three years. The same publisher commissioned plates for [[Thomas Birch]]'s ''Heads of Illustrious Persons'', though his contribution is submerged by the popularity of [[Jacobus Houbraken|Houbraken]]'s "brilliant but less truthful productions".
* Rapin's ''History of England,'' Knapton Brothers edition, 1736. A task that took three years. The same publisher commissioned plates for [[Thomas Birch]]'s ''Heads of Illustrious Persons'', though his contribution is submerged by the popularity of [[Jacobus Houbraken|Houbraken]]'s "brilliant but less truthful productions".


[[File:Gate at Whitehall from Vetusta monumenta (Vol.1, 1826).jpg|thumb|''The Gate at Whitehall'' ([[Holbein Gate]]) in ''Vetusta Monumenta'' Vol.1, 1747 (1826).<ref>'[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=67926 The Holbein Gate and the Tiltyard Gallery]', Survey of London: volume 14: St Margaret, Westminster, part III: Whitehall II (1931), pp. 10-22. Date accessed: 24 November 2010.</ref>]]
[[File:Gate at Whitehall from Vetusta monumenta (Vol.1, 1826).jpg|thumb|''The Gate at Whitehall'' ([[Holbein Gate]]) in ''Vetusta Monumenta'' Vol.1, 1747 (1826).<ref>'[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=67926 The Holbein Gate and the Tiltyard Gallery]', Survey of London: volume 14: St Margaret, Westminster, part III: Whitehall II (1931), pp. 10–22. Date accessed: 24 November 2010.</ref>]]
As official engraver to the Society of Antiquaries, and works relating to this field of natural history, Vertue was prolific: Richard II at Westminster; a view of Waltham Cross; the shrine of Edward the Confessor are notable mentions from his works in ''[[Vetusta Monumenta]]''
As official engraver to the Society of Antiquaries, with works relating to this field of natural history, Vertue was prolific: Richard II at Westminster; a view of Waltham Cross; the shrine of Edward the Confessor; are notable mentions from his works in ''[[Vetusta Monumenta]]''


He executed a series of nine ''Historic Prints'' in 1740, imitations of works from the [[Tudor period]], these included ''Visit of Queen Elizabeth to Blackfriars'' (miscalled the ''Procession to Hunsdon House''); ''Henry VII and his Queen, with Henry VIII and Jane Seymour;'' ''The Cenotaph of Lord Darnley;'' and ''Edward VI granting a Charter to Bridewell Hospital.'' The copperplates of these were acquired by the Society of Antiquaries, and reprinted in 1776.<!-- get date: "they were again reprinted more recently" --><ref name="DNB00" />
He executed a series of nine ''Historic Prints'' in 1740, imitations of works from the [[Tudor period]], these included ''Visit of Queen Elizabeth to Blackfriars'' (miscalled the ''Procession to Hunsdon House''); ''Henry VII and his Queen, with Henry VIII and Jane Seymour;'' ''The Cenotaph of Lord Darnley;'' and ''Edward VI granting a Charter to Bridewell Hospital.'' The copperplates of these were acquired by the Society of Antiquaries, and reprinted in 1776.<!-- get date: "they were again reprinted more recently" --><ref name="DNB00" />


His publications include ''A Description of the Works of Wenceslaus Hollar,'' 1745 (reprinted 1759); and ''Medals, Coins, Great Seals, Impressions from the Works of Thomas Simon,'' 1753 (reprinted 1780).
His publications include ''A Description of the Works of Wenceslaus Hollar,'' 1745 (reprinted 1759); and ''Medals, Coins, Great Seals, Impressions from the Works of Thomas Simon,'' 1753 (reprinted 1780).
Vertue was also involved with the pre-production of surveys of royal collections, Vanderdoort's catalogue of the collection of Charles I, Chiffinch's James II collection and his on that of Queen Caroline at Kensington; these saw print after his death, prefaced by Walpole.
Vertue was also involved with the pre-production of surveys of royal collections, Vanderdoort's catalogue of the collection of Charles I, [[William Chiffinch|Chiffinch's]] James II collection and his on that of Queen Caroline at Kensington; these saw print after his death, prefaced by Walpole.


[[Horace Walpole]] purchased Vertue's notebooks after his death. Although disorderly and mainly unreflective, Walpole based his ''Anecdotes of Painting in England'' (5 vols., 1762-1771) on these notes. The original wording of the manuscripts was only published in the 20th century by the [[Walpole Society]].
[[Horace Walpole]] purchased Vertue's notebooks after his death. Although disorderly and mainly unreflective, Walpole based his ''Anecdotes of Painting in England'' (5 vols., 1762–1771) on these notes. The original wording of the manuscripts was only published in the 20th century by the [[Walpole Society]].


The ''[[Dictionary of National Biography]]'', 1900, makes special note of one reproduction by Vertue, in the article on [[Ralph Agas]],
The ''[[Dictionary of National Biography]]'', 1900, makes special note of one reproduction by Vertue, in the article on [[Ralph Agas]],


<blockquote>"In 1737 George Vertue, the engraver and antiquary, published a pretended copy of Agas's map of London [''[[Civitas Londinum]]''], stating that it was executed in 1560, and that it gave a true representation of the metropolis as it existed at the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign. Vertue crowned his pretended copy with the date 1560 in Roman numerals, made palpable alterations and omissions in order that he might retain the delusive date, and took other unwarrantable liberties with the object of disguising the fraud. The unhappy result of this tinkering of the original design was that numerous subsequent antiquaries were victims of the deception. Mr. Overall is of opinion that Vertue, having become possessed of the parts of a copy of the map made by some unknown Dutch engraver in the reign of William III, caused them to be "tinkered," probably for the purpose of deceiving his antiquarian friends. Of course the numerous copies of the spurious map issued by Vertue are of little or no value; …"<ref name=Agas>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Agas, Radulph|Radulph Agas|last=Cooper|first=Thompson|authorlink=Thompson Cooper|quote= ''sources:'' }}</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>In 1737 George Vertue, the engraver and antiquary, published a pretended copy of Agas's map of London [the [[Woodcut map of London|"Woodcut" map]]], stating that it was executed in 1560, and that it gave a true representation of the metropolis as it existed at the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign. Vertue crowned his pretended copy with the date 1560 in Roman numerals, made palpable alterations and omissions in order that he might retain the delusive date, and took other unwarrantable liberties with the object of disguising the fraud. The unhappy result of this tinkering of the original design was that numerous subsequent antiquaries were victims of the deception. Mr. Overall is of opinion that Vertue, having become possessed of the parts of a copy of the map made by some unknown Dutch engraver in the reign of William III, caused them to be "tinkered," probably for the purpose of deceiving his antiquarian friends. Of course the numerous copies of the spurious map issued by Vertue are of little or no value; …<ref name=Agas>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Agas, Radulph |last=Cooper |first=Thompson |authorlink=Thompson Cooper|volume=1 |pages=173–175}}</ref></blockquote>


<!-- VERBATIM PD text: One of his latest undertakings was a set of ten plates of Charles I and the sufferers in his cause, each plate containing two portraits, with characters taken from Clarendon and other authors. Vertue died on 24 July 1756, and was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey, where there is a mural tablet to his memory. His wife, Margaret Evans, to whom he was married in 1720, survived until 1776. His collections of coins, prints, &c., were sold by auction in May 1757. During the last forty years of his life Vertue was industriously gathering materials for a history of the fine arts in England; and the invaluable series of notebooks in which he set down all the information he could obtain respecting English artists of all periods, including his own, were purchased from his widow by Horace Walpole, who compiled from them his ‘Anecdotes of Painting in England.’ The volumes passed at the Strawberry Hill sale to Dawson Turner [q. v.], and are now in the British Museum.
<!-- VERBATIM PD text: One of his latest undertakings was a set of ten plates of Charles I and the sufferers in his cause, each plate containing two portraits, with characters taken from Clarendon and other authors. Vertue died on 24 July 1756, and was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey, where there is a mural tablet to his memory. His wife, Margaret Evans, to whom he was married in 1720, survived until 1776. His collections of coins, prints, &c., were sold by auction in May 1757. During the last forty years of his life Vertue was industriously gathering materials for a history of the fine arts in England; and the invaluable series of notebooks in which he set down all the information he could obtain respecting English artists of all periods, including his own, were purchased from his widow by Horace Walpole, who compiled from them his ‘Anecdotes of Painting in England.’ The volumes passed at the Strawberry Hill sale to Dawson Turner [q. v.], and are now in the British Museum.
-->
-->


==References==
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}

⚫
*George Vertue, "Notebooks", ''The Volume of the Walpole Society'', XVIII (1929-1930), XX (1931-1932), XXII (1933-1934), XXIV (1935-1936), XXVI (1937-1938), XXIV (1947; Index), XXX (1951-1952; Index).
==References==
⚫
*Ilaria Bignamini, "George Vertue, Art Historian," ''The Volume of the Walpole Society'', 54 (1988), 2-18.
⚫
*George Vertue, "Notebooks", ''The Volume of the Walpole Society'', XVIII (1929–1930), XX (1931–1932), XXII (1933–1934), XXIV (1935–1936), XXVI (1937–1938), XXIV (1947; Index), XXX (1951–1952; Index).
⚫
*Ilaria Bignamini, "George Vertue, Art Historian," ''The Volume of the Walpole Society'', 54 (1988), 2–18.
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle = Vertue, George|volume=27}}
*{{cite ODNB|first=Martin|last=Myrone|title = Vertue, George (1684–1756)|id= 28252}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{wikisource author}}
{{Commons category}}
{{Commons category}}
* Images of works
* Images of works
*[https://ssl.perfora.net/s202952973.oneandoneshop.com/sess/utn15469cd503a9b48/shopdata/product_search.shopscript?query=vertue&search_logical=or&x=22&y=12 Portrait of Thomas Sackville Earl of Dorset]
*{{cite web|url=https://ssl.perfora.net/s202952973.oneandoneshop.com/sess/utn15469cd503a9b48/shopdata/product_search.shopscript?query=vertue&search_logical=or&x=22&y=12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928140219/https://ssl.perfora.net/s202952973.oneandoneshop.com/sess/utn15469cd503a9b48/shopdata/product_search.shopscript?query=vertue&search_logical=or&x=22&y=12 |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 September 2007 |title=Portrait of Thomas Sackville Earl of Dorset }}
*{{Cite document |last=Vertue, G., & Holbein, H. (1700). ''[http://worldcat.org/wcpa/oclc/51155119?page=frame&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhdl.loc.gov%2Floc.pnp%2Fcph.3c03824&title=&linktype=digitalObject&detail= Edward VI, King of England, half-length portrait, facing slightly left]'' |oclc=51155119 |postscript=<!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}}}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Vertue |first=G. |last2=Holbein |first2=H. |year=1700 |title=Edward VI, King of England, half-length portrait, facing slightly left |oclc=51155119}}
*{{Cite document |last=Vertue, G., & Honthorst, G. v. (1730). ''[http://worldcat.org/wcpa/oclc/51134504?page=frame&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhdl.loc.gov%2Floc.pnp%2Fcph.3c16190&title=&linktype=digitalObject&detail= Benjamin Johnson, English actor, head-and-shoulders portrait facing slightly left]'' |oclc=51134504 |postscript=<!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}}}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Vertue |last2=Honthorst |first=G. V. |year=1730 |title=Benjamin Johnson, English actor, head-and-shoulders portrait facing slightly left |oclc=51134504}}
*''Civitatis Londinum Ani Dni Circiter MDLX./ Londinum Antiqua This plan shews the ancient extent of the famous Cities of London and Westminster as it was near the beginning of the Reign of Queen Elisabeth…'' Vertue, Soc. Antiq. Lond. Excudit 1737. 27 x 75 inches [http://www.martayanlan.com/cgi-bin/display.cgi/Maps/26/2473 reproductions]
*{{cite web |author=unknown artist; after George Vertue |year=1737 |title=Civitatis Londinum Ani Dni Circiter MDLX./ Londinum Antique, this plan shows the ancient extent of the famous cities of London and Westminster as it was near the beginning of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth (8 sheets) Vertue, Soc. Antiq., Lond. Exxudit 1737 |url=http://collections.britishart.yale.edu/vufind/Record/3642536 |publisher=Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection}}

{{Authority control}}


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME = Vertue, George
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = English engraver
| DATE OF BIRTH = 1684
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH = July 24, 1756
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vertue, George}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vertue, George}}
[[Category:1684 births]]
[[Category:1684 births]]
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[[Category:English antiquarians]]
[[Category:English antiquarians]]
[[Category:English engravers]]
[[Category:English engravers]]
[[Category:People from Westminster]]
[[Category:Artists from Westminster]]
[[Category:Artist authors]]

[[Category:Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London]]
[[fr:George Vertue]]

Latest revision as of 17:37, 6 September 2023

This article is about the 18th-century engraver and antiquary. For the 19th-century publisher, see George Virtue.

George Vertue, portrait by Jonathan Richardson (1733).

George Vertue FSA (1684 – 24 July 1756) was an English engraver and antiquary, whose notebooks on British art of the first half of the 18th century are a valuable source for the period.

Life

[edit]

Vertue was born in 1684 in St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, his father, perhaps a tailor, and mother are noted as 'Roman Catholic'. At the age of 13, he was apprenticed to a prominent heraldic engraver of French origin who became bankrupt and returned to France. Vertue worked seven years under Michael Vandergucht, before operating independently. He was amongst the first members of Godfrey Kneller's London Academy of Painting, who had employed him to engrave portraits.[1] It was there that he became a pupil of Thomas Gibson, a leading portrait painter.

Vertue had a deep interest in antiquarian research, and much of his labour was given to this subject. From 1713 on, Vertue was a keen researcher on details of the history of British art, accumulating about forty volumes of notebooks. He was a member of the Rose and Crown Club, with William Hogarth, Peter Tillemans and other artists and connoisseurs, and kept some records of it.[2] His travels to sites across England, with enthusiasts such as Edward Harley (Earl of Oxford), Lord Coleraine and others, were recorded in Vertue's highly detailed drawings and notes. In 1717 he was appointed official engraver to the Society of Antiquaries, the same year as its formal foundation, and the only engraver to be made a Fellow of the Society.[3] Most of the illustrations in Vetusta Monumenta, up to his date of death, are his work.[1]

After the death of the Earl of Oxford in 1741, Vertue was patronised by the Duchess of Portland and others. The Duke of Norfolk commissioned a work after Van Dyck of the Earl of Arundel and his family. He produced a catalogue detailing the collections of the royal family, at the request of Frederick, Prince of Wales, an avid buyer of the engraver's work.[1]

A portrait of Vertue was painted in 1715 by Gibson, his widow donated this to the Society of Antiquaries; Vertue had produced an engraving of this. A later painting, of the artist aged around 50, by Jonathan Richardson was acquired by the National Portrait Gallery, a plate of this by Thomas Chambers was engraved for Walpole's Anecdotes. An 1849 edition of Walpole's book contained an engraving, by George Thomas Doo, of a self-portrait—sitting in a library—that shows him displaying a portrait of the Earl of Oxford; this was previously published in 1821 as a lithograph. Another self-portrait, with his wife on their wedding-day, was etched by William Humphrey. Richardson also drew the profile used in James Basire's plate in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes.[1]

Vertue died in London on 24 July 1756 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.[1]

Vertue's brother James (d. 1765) was an artist in Bath who produced the interior view of the abbey that was engraved by him. The second of his three brothers, Peter, was a dancing master of Chelmsford.[1]

Works

[edit]

Approximately five hundred portraits are attributed to Vertue, a similar number of published plates were devoted to antiquarian subjects. Many of the portraits were printed as frontispieces, most are regarded as accurate representations of the subject and many are not without artistic merit.

Vertue's works of portraiture include:[1]

  • A portrait of Archbishop Tillotson, after Kneller, commissioned by John Somers, 1st Baron Somers
  • The head of George I of Great Britain, produced on his accession to the throne, a work that established his reputation.
  • Twelve Heads of Poets, set of plates issued 1730
  • Rapin's History of England, Knapton Brothers edition, 1736. A task that took three years. The same publisher commissioned plates for Thomas Birch's Heads of Illustrious Persons, though his contribution is submerged by the popularity of Houbraken's "brilliant but less truthful productions".
The Gate at Whitehall (Holbein Gate) in Vetusta Monumenta Vol.1, 1747 (1826).[4]

As official engraver to the Society of Antiquaries, with works relating to this field of natural history, Vertue was prolific: Richard II at Westminster; a view of Waltham Cross; the shrine of Edward the Confessor; are notable mentions from his works in Vetusta Monumenta

He executed a series of nine Historic Prints in 1740, imitations of works from the Tudor period, these included Visit of Queen Elizabeth to Blackfriars (miscalled the Procession to Hunsdon House); Henry VII and his Queen, with Henry VIII and Jane Seymour; The Cenotaph of Lord Darnley; and Edward VI granting a Charter to Bridewell Hospital. The copperplates of these were acquired by the Society of Antiquaries, and reprinted in 1776.[1]

His publications include A Description of the Works of Wenceslaus Hollar, 1745 (reprinted 1759); and Medals, Coins, Great Seals, Impressions from the Works of Thomas Simon, 1753 (reprinted 1780). Vertue was also involved with the pre-production of surveys of royal collections, Vanderdoort's catalogue of the collection of Charles I, Chiffinch's James II collection and his on that of Queen Caroline at Kensington; these saw print after his death, prefaced by Walpole.

Horace Walpole purchased Vertue's notebooks after his death. Although disorderly and mainly unreflective, Walpole based his Anecdotes of Painting in England (5 vols., 1762–1771) on these notes. The original wording of the manuscripts was only published in the 20th century by the Walpole Society.

The Dictionary of National Biography, 1900, makes special note of one reproduction by Vertue, in the article on Ralph Agas,

In 1737 George Vertue, the engraver and antiquary, published a pretended copy of Agas's map of London [the "Woodcut" map], stating that it was executed in 1560, and that it gave a true representation of the metropolis as it existed at the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign. Vertue crowned his pretended copy with the date 1560 in Roman numerals, made palpable alterations and omissions in order that he might retain the delusive date, and took other unwarrantable liberties with the object of disguising the fraud. The unhappy result of this tinkering of the original design was that numerous subsequent antiquaries were victims of the deception. Mr. Overall is of opinion that Vertue, having become possessed of the parts of a copy of the map made by some unknown Dutch engraver in the reign of William III, caused them to be "tinkered," probably for the purpose of deceiving his antiquarian friends. Of course the numerous copies of the spurious map issued by Vertue are of little or no value; …[5]


Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h O'Donoghue, Freeman Marius (1899). "Vertue, George" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 58. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 285–286. citing: Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting; Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, ii. 246; Chester's Westminster Abbey Reg.; Dodd's manuscript Hist. of English Engravers in Brit. Mus. (Addit. MS. 33406).
  2. ^ Coombs, Katherine. "Lens [Laus] family (per. c. 1650–1779), artists". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/76205. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ^ Myrone, Martin (2008). "Vertue, George (1684–1756), engraver and antiquary". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/28252. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ^ 'The Holbein Gate and the Tiltyard Gallery', Survey of London: volume 14: St Margaret, Westminster, part III: Whitehall II (1931), pp. 10–22. Date accessed: 24 November 2010.
  5. ^ Cooper, Thompson (1885). "Agas, Radulph" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 1. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 173–175.

References

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