George Vertue (1684-1756)

Jonathan Richardson the elder (London 1665 – London 1745). Oil painting on canvas, George Vertue (1684-1756), by Jonathan Richardson the elder (London 1665 – London 1745). Recorded at Wimpole, as one of the Hardwicke collection of historical portraits, in 1880. Then wrongly considered a portrait of the 2nd Earl of Oxford's great friend, the poet and diplomat Matthew Prior, it closely resembles Richardson's head-and-shoulders of the connoisseur George Vertue (1733 National Portrait Gallery). Vertue was a friend of the Earl, and catalogued his pictures after his death. Wimpole, Cambridgeshire (Accredited Museum)