SLAUGHTER, Stephen - b. 1697 London, d. 1765 London

English painter. In 1712 he joined Sir Godfrey Kneller’s Academy, London, where he studied alongside Bartholomew Dandridge and Marcellus Laroon (1679-1772). He may also have attended the St Martin’s Lane Academy in 1720. He was abroad in Flanders and Paris in the 1720s and 1730s, returning to London probably in 1733.

In 1734 he visited Dublin. Back in England, between 1735 and 1743 he accepted a number of commissions for portraits, such as The Hon. John Spencer and Lady Georgina Spencer (both 1737; Blenheim Palace, Oxon). His portrait of Sir Hans Sloane (1736; National Portrait Gallery, London) illustrates how he sought to develop a style that combines formality of pose with accuracy of facial representation.

In 1743 Slaughter returned to Dublin and remained there for several years, making occasional visits to London. His high reputation in Ireland led to commissions for portraits of such worthies as John Hoadley, Bishop of Armagh (1744; National Gallery, Dublin). Several of his Irish portraits were engraved in mezzotint, and he inspired younger artists such as Anthony Lee (d. 1769) to adopt his style. In 1745 Slaughter succeeded Parry Walton as Surveyor of the King’s Pictures, a post he held until his death. He re-settled in London c. 1747.

Portrait of Francis Whyte

This painting shows a three-quarter length portrait of Francis Whyte of Redhills, County Cavan, sitting on a carved giltwood chair, leaning on his elbow on a console table draped with a blue-grey curtain, dressed in a blue coat and richly embroidered waistcoat.

Francis Whyte was descended from an old Bedfordshire family whose property was at Tuddington. He was the great-grandson of Francis Whyte who had been Secretary of State to Lord Deputy Grandison temp. Elizabeth I.