Willem Wissing, known in England as William Wissing (1656 – 10 September 1687), was a Dutch portrait artist who worked in England.

Biography

He was born in either

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, and studied at The Hague under Willem Doudijns (1630–97) and Arnoldus van Ravestyn (1615–90). In 1676, he moved to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, where he studied with and assisted

Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 30 November 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. He became a naturalised British subject and was kn ...

. After Lely's death in 1680, Wissing emerged as his most important pupil.

Godfrey Kneller Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723) was a German-born British painter. The leading Portrait painting, portraitist in England during the late Stuart period, Stuart and early Georgian eras ...

was the only contemporary portrait artist in England to rival Wissing. Wissing’s royal sitters include

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest su ...

Catherine of Braganza Catherine of Braganza (; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England, List of Scottish royal consorts, Scotland and Ireland during her marriage to Charles II of England, King Charles II, which la ...

, George of Denmark and

James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, 1st Duke of Buccleuch, (9 April 1649 – 15 July 1685) was an English nobleman and military officer. Originally called James Crofts or James Fitzroy, he was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the eldest ill ...

. In 1685,

James II of England James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...

sent Wissing to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

to paint portraits of his Dutch son-in-law and daughter, the future

William III of England William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702), also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, Zeeland, Lordship of Utrecht, Utrec ...

and the future

Mary II of England Mary II (30 April 1662 – 28 December 1694) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England, List of Scottish monarchs, Scotland, and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland with her husband, King William III and II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. Sh ...

. The portraits were often repeated; versions are on display in the Great Hall of the Wren building at the College of William and Mary in

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It had a population of 15,425 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern par ...

. Wissing died in 1687 at the peak of his fame as a portrait painter, at Burghley House, the home of John Cecil, 5th Earl of Exeter near Stamford in Lincolnshire. Some suspected he was poisoned out of jealousy of his success. According to Arnold Houbraken his epitaph was ''Immodicis brevis est aetas'', meaning ''Brief is the life of the outstanding''. He was buried in St Martin's Church, Stamford, Lincolnshire. Fellow Dutch immigrant Jan van der Vaart worked in his workshop and added the draperies and landscapes in the portraits painted by Wissing. After Wissing's death in 1687, van der Vaart continued Wissing's workshop.Biographical details of Jan van der Vaart
in the Netherlands Institute for Art History Many of Wissing's portraits of prominent sitters and his self-portrait were disseminated in

mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the intaglio (printmaking), intaglio family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzo ...

Gallery

File:Wissing, Willem - Queen Anne, 1687.jpg, ''Portrait of Queen Anne'' (private collection) File:Willem Wissing - Portrait of Henrietta and Mary Hyde - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Portrait of Henrietta and Mary Hyde''. c. 1683 File:King William III by William Wissing.jpg, ''Portrait of William III when Prince of Orange'' (

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

) File:Willem Wissing - Portrait of a Boy - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Portrait of a Boy with Dog'' attrib. to Wissing ( Yale Center for British Art) File:Willem Wissing - Elizabeth Jones, Countess of Kildare - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Portrait of Elizabeth Jones, Countess of Kildare'', attrib. to Wissing c. 1684 (Yale Center for British Art) File:James, Duke of Cambridge - Wissing 1676-87.jpg, ''Posthumous Portrait of James Stuart, Duke of Cambridge'', 1676-87 ( Royal Collection) File:James_Butler,_1st_Duke_of_Ormonde_by_William_Wissing.jpg, ''Portrait of

James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde Lieutenant general, Lieutenant-General James FitzThomas Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, Knight of the Garter, KG, Privy Council of England, PC (19 October 1610 – 21 July 1688), was an Anglo-Irish statesman and soldier, known as Earl of Ormond fr ...

'' File:James Scott, Duke of Monmouth and Buccleuch by William Wissing.jpg, ''Portrait of James Scott, Duke of Monmouth and Buccleuch'' (National Portrait Gallery, London) File:Isabella, Dutchess of Grafton by Willem Wissing (1656-1687).jpg, ''Portrait of Isabella, Duchess of Grafton'' ( Sotheby's) File:D. Catarina de Bragança, por Wissing (Palácio das Necessidades).png, ''Portrait of Catherine of Braganza, Queen of England'' ( Necessidades Palace,

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

)

References

* Millar, Sir Oliver and Margaret Whinney, ''Oxford History of English Art 1625–1714'', Oxford,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1957, 177.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wissing, Willem 1656 births 1687 deaths 17th-century English painters English male painters Painters from Amsterdam British Baroque painters Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters Dutch portrait painters British portrait painters