Porträt Joseph Addison (1672-1719)

Portrait of Joseph Addison. The English poet is shown here as a chest image to the left. He turned his head to the right and now patterns the viewer. He wears a long, curly wig and simple clothes. The portrait is oval and inscribed. Two loops of flowers are added to the portrait on the top left and right; there are other shrubs at the bottom. Under the portrait, a kind of altarpiece can still be seen, showing on his front a round relief with a winged horse on a rock. At the foot of the altar, other attributes are provided: books, a lyra, a mask and crown as well as an ecule stick. In between there is laurel, individual leaves and fabric tracks. Joseph Addison was friends with Richard Steele, later writer. They brought together “The Spectator” in 1711, in which contributions by Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope also appeared. In 1699 he founded the already discussed Kit-Kat-Club in London with friends. Addison’s one-year libretto “Rosamond” remained unsuccessful. The leaf was executed as a copper engraving by the pictorial engraver Jacobus Houbraken (1698-1780). He used a template by the painter and lute player Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723). Under the effigy, it also appears that the leaf was in a collection: "In The Collection of Jacob Johnson Esq.“In addition, Paul and John Knapton’s paper was printed and moved in London in the year of its creation, probably in the publication of Thomas Birch (1705-1766):” The heads of illustrious persons of Great Britain. " Signature: G. Kneller pinxit I. Houbraken sculps. Amst. 1748. In The Collection of Jacob Johnson Esq. Impensis J & P Knapton Londini. 1748. Label: [medallion] JOSEPH ADDISON Esq.r. (Stiftung Händel-Haus Halle Foundation)