Old Painting, English School Of The Eighteenth Century

Old English school painting of the 1700s from the 1700s circle by Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723): Portrait of King William III - Prince of Orange Oil on canvas, UNFRAMED dimensions: 101.5 x 76.5 cm. William III of Orange is one of the protagonists of the 17th century. After having served as governor of the Netherlands, he ascended to the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland. He was born on November 14, 1650 in The Hague, Holland. In this period, Holland is included in the federation of United Provinces: an entity made up of 7 territories, all of Protestant faith. William III belongs to the Orange-Nassau dynasty, which since the 16th century has been entrusted with the function of Statolder, the highest authority of the United Provinces. His father, William II, is also a Statolder. Through his veins flows the blood of another important dynasty, the Stuarts. His mother, Maria, is the daughter of the King of England Charles I. Little William was orphaned by his father even before his birth. The merchant bourgeoisie of the United Provinces took advantage of the death of the Statolder to take power. At age 10, William also loses his mother. He is entrusted to his paternal grandmother, Amalia, who prepares him to become a Statolder. In 1672, the armies of King Louis XIV of France invaded the United Provinces. The government established by the bourgeoisie cannot handle the situation: it is overthrown by a popular revolt. Guglielmo, now 22, officially assumes the post of Statolder and manages to reject Louis XIV. This is his first success. At 27, he married his cousin Maria II Stuart, daughter of Giacomo Stuart. The latter in 1685 was crowned King of England under the name of Jacques II. The last years The death of Maria II Stuart Queen Maria died of smallpox in 1694, with great sorrow for King William, and with this the reason for the attachment of the people for his sovereign, who from that moment will always be seen as always more of an outsider. The victory over France William continued his anti-French policy, already well thought out in the Dutch era, and succeeded in drawing England into the fight. As a result, the Empire, the United Provinces, England, Spain and Savoy are deployed against Louis XIV. The war had alternating phases: William fought victoriously at Steenwerck (August 3, 1692), with an unfavorable outcome at Landen (July 19, 1693) and finally, in 1695, he succeeded in taking Namur. The Treaty of Ryswick (Rijswijk), in 1697, crowned his tenacious efforts against France, the imperialist policy of Louis XIV being abruptly stopped. The partition of Spain Guillaume, a few years after the death of his wife, found himself engaged in a series of secret negotiations with his former enemy Louis XIV to agree to a partition of Spanish territories without resorting to arms. In the meantime, the death of the Prince of Bavaria had nullified the first treaty of partition of Spain, concluded in 1698 with Louis XIV and William therefore had to start again. A second partition treaty was negotiated during the summer of 1699. This policy of agreement with France failed with the death of the King of Spain (November 1700), who decided to leave all his territories to the nephew of Louis XIV by will. The King of France decided to violate the agreements made and accept the offer. William, although aware of the weakness of his position in England, then turned to prepare for a new war, demonstrating the greatest political skill in gradually leading the English nation to accept his plan against Louis XIV. The English succession When Parliament met in February 1701, however, the interest of the session turned to the question of the English succession, which had become acute with the death of Princess Anne's only surviving son, the Duke of Gloucester (July 1700 ). . The Act of Settlement was passed which recognized Hanoverian succession, and limited royal powers with certain clauses, which were a deliberate rebuke of William's way of acting as king (June 1701). The latter played a waiting game with consummate skill, keeping his composure even in the face of the obvious insult of the Act of Settlement, and instead, continuing his tight diplomatic tinkering in Europe against France. Jacques II died in September and Louis XIV recognized Jacques III as "the old pretender", thus violating the commitments made with the Treaty of Rijswijk. With this false move, Louis XIV played William's game: the November elections in England brought back to Parliament men ready to support the king in vigorous policies, and in early 1702 William won the full support of Parliament and funds. sufficient to maintain 40,000 men. William's death, however, did not see the fruit of his policies. On February 21, 1702, while riding at Hampton Court, he broke his left collarbone from a fall from his horse, Sorrel. This fracture was the cause of pneumonia, which then led to his death on March 8, 1702. ALL OUR WORKS ARE SUPPLIED WITH A PHOTOGRAPHIC CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY