John Riley

After the death of Peter Lely in 1680, John Riley became one of the leading English portrait painters. Trained under Isaac Fuller and Gerard Soest, Riley firmly established himself among fashionable clientele in the genre of portraiture and was celebrated during his lifetime by Horace Walpole as "one of the best native painters that has flourished in England." He excelled particularly in capturing the facial features of his sitters, which he rendered with a sensitive brush and truthful excellence. He is known to have painted James I and Mary of Modena, and in 1688, Riley and his contemporary Godfrey Kneller were appointed jointly as Principal Painter in Ordinary to King William III and Queen Mary. Riley often collaborated later in his career with John Closterman, and in his bustling studio, Riley welcomed Anthony Russell, Edward Gouge, Thomas Murray, and Johnathan Richardson, among others.  

The fashionable sitter in this grand portrait by Riley is Sir William Monson, a prominent Whig politician in England in the late 17^th and early 18^th centuries. The second son of Sir John Monson of Burton, Lincolnshire (1628-1674), and Judith Pelham, Sir William Monson married Laetitia Poulett, the daughter of John Poulett, 3^rd Baron Poulett, in July 1688. On 6 April 1718, he succeeded his brother, who had died without issue, as 4^th Baronet. In the House of Commons, he represented Lincoln (1695-98), Heytesbury (1702-08), Hertford (1708-10), and Aldborough (1715-21). In addition to his political enterprises, William Monson attempted to establish a company of glassmakers in London and also took part in lead mining enterprises in Northern Wales.