VANDERBANK, John the Younger - b. 1694 London, d. 1739 London

English painter and illustrator of Dutch origin. He was first instructed in drawing by his father, John Vanderbank the Elder (d. 1717), a tapestry-weaver of Soho, London. He worked at Kneller’s Academy from its foundation in 1711 but broke away in 1720 and with Louis Chéron (1660-1725) set up a new school in St Martin’s Lane, London, at which a greater emphasis was placed on life drawing.

He had begun as a portrait painter and in the 1720s attracted sitters who included Isaac Newton (1725; version, London, Royal Society), Martin Folkes (private collection) and Thomas Guy (London, Guy’s Hospital). Royal commissions included George I (1726; Windsor Castle, Royal Collection) and Queen Caroline (1736; Goodwood House, W. Sussex). At that time he also did some decorative painting, executing designs on a staircase at 11 Bedford Row, London (c. 1720); this commission included an equestrian portrait of George I surrounded by allegorical figures, as well as an allegory of the Arts and of Britannia receiving the commerce of the world.

Some of his drawings, such as Cybele (version, Chicago, Art Institute) and St Michael in Combat with Lucifer (Vienna, Albertina), similarly show an interest in Baroque decorative design, but he did not develop this further.

Portrait of Martin Folkes

This three-quarter length portrait represents Martin Folkes (1690-1754), an English antiquary, numismatist, mathematician, and astronomer. In 1722 he was appointed vice-president of the Royal Society, and frequently chaired meetings in the absence of the President, Sir Isaac Newton. He was a candidate for President on Newton’s death in competition with Sir Hans Soane (who was successful), but succeeded the latter in 1741.