John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough

John Churchill (1650-1722), first Duke of Marlborough, defeated the French at Blenheim 1704, Ramillies 1706, Oudenarde 1708 and Malplaquet 1709. An exceedingly crude derivation from a portrait by Kneller, it was rightly described in Sparkes and Carver 1890 as a 'wretched painting, intended for a representation of the Duke of Marlborough, [it] deserves notice only from its association with a great name. It could otherwise have no title to a place in any collection of works of art'.