12 John Closterman
The children of john Taylor of
Bifrons Park
? 1696
Provenance.' almost certainly painted for
john Taylor (1665-1729); by descent to
B MC. Trench; his sale, Sotheby’s, 9 ]uly
1980 (126); bought by the Trustees of the
National Portrait Gallery, November 1980.
The portrait shows eight of the children of
john Taylor, a wealthy Kent landowner,
and his wife Olivia. Second from the left is
Brook Taylor (1685—1751), their eldest son,
later a celebrated mathematician, the
inventor of Taylor’s Theorem. According to
a rnemoir of Taylor published by his
grandson in 1793, the portrait shows him
aged thirteen; that is, on or after 18
August 1698. There are two objections to
this First, Closterman was in Madrid by
l\lovember of that year, allowing very little
time for so ambitious a commission.
Secondly, one son, Bridges (1695-1727),
would be missing. A date of 1696 for the
portrait, when Brook was eleven, fits the
citcurnstances better. The children would
then be (left to right): Olive (b.1681),
Brook, Margaret (b.1685), Mary (b.1690),
Upton (b.1696), Nathaniel (b.1687),)ohn
(b. 1687) and Bridges (rather than Herbert,
b.May 1698).
Closterman is known to have painted two
other family groups -~ The Seymour
Children (Syon House) and The
Mar/horough Famzly (Blenheim Palace) -~
but this highly finished group, with its
assured, rhythrnic composition, sumptuous
colouring and Frenchified elegance, is
arguably his nidsterpiece. It is contrived as
a play on the motto of the Taylor family,
Fama candida rosa dulcior’ (fame is
sweeter than a white rose) (information
from Professor]. Douglas Stewart). Olive
and Margaret hold the traditional
allegorical attributes of Fame: two
trumpets and a wreath with which they
crown Brook, who was evidently something
of a child prodigy and an accomplished
musician. The wreath appears to be of
orange blossom rather than the more usual
bay. Mary, seated at the centre of the
group, dispenses from her cornucopia,
symbol of the benefits of good fortune, a
white rose. It is possible that the exquisite
flowers were painted by a specialist flower
painter, rather than by Closterman himself.
National Porrrait Gallery, London NPG
5320