Sir Christopher Wren

Sir Christopher Wren is seen here in an engraving after a portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller. Kneller's painting dates from 1711 when Wren was approaching eighty years old. This print by E. Scriven was published some years later, after Wren's death in 1723.

A scientist and architect, Wren designed some of London's most famous buildings, notably St. Paul's Cathedral. Wren was appointed surveyor-general of the King's works and was responsible for rebuilding the city's secular and religious buildings damaged by the Great Fire of London in 1666. During the 1680s, Wren received several royal commissions, for instance the renovation the palaces at Hampton Court and Kensington. Wren's last major project was the Royal Naval Hospital at Greenwich, which took almost a century to complete.

The German-born painter Godfrey Kneller moved to England in 1676 and promptly set up business as a portrait painter, employing assistants to accommodate the growing demand. A high-profile society and court painter, he became principal painter to William and Mary and was knighted in 1692. Following the accession of George I, Kneller was created a baronet in 1715.