Kent Ceiling Painting, Featuring Viscount Cobham

Details

Date

1730s

Author / Artist

Dimensions

300cm

Material

Canvas, Wood

Catalogue number

SHPT.20

Current location

North Hall

Viscount Cobham, receiving a sword from Mars, God of War, painted en grisaille in quadratura, against a faux mosaic background, tondo, together with a pair of rectangular panels, painted en suite, each with a putto amidst arms and armour.
The design, suggested by the patron himself, references Viscount Cobham’s military commission. Promoted to lieutenant colonel in
February 1702, he was given his own regiment to command, and fought under John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough at the Battle of Venlo in September 1702 and at the Battle of Roermond in
October 1702, during the War of the Spanish Succession. The design represents King William III looking on with favour from a portrait
medallion.