James Thornhill

Sir James Thornhill was possibly born in Woolland, Dorset, July 25, 1675 and died in Stalbridge, Dorset, May 13, 1734.

Though the field of decorative historical painting in England was dominated in the early eighteenth century by continental artists such as Sebastiano Ricci and Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini, Thornhill was able to carve out a successful career for himself. He learned the art of non-figural decorative painting and trompe l'oeil while apprenticed to Thomas Highmore in London between 1689 and 1696. He became a freeman of the Painter Stainers' Company in 1704 and began a series of decorative schemes for country houses. The commission that dominated his career was the decoration of the Royal Naval Hospital at Greenwich, for which he painted two ceilings and five murals celebrating the English monarchy from William and Mary to George I. He won another prestigious commission for the interior of the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral. Thornhill also played an important role in establishing one of the earliest art schools in England, Sir Godfrey Kneller's academy, where he was governor between 1716 and 1720. His other official posts included History Painter to the King, Master of the Painter-Stainers' Company, and Sergeant-Painter to the King. In 1720 he became the first English-born artist to be knighted.