Adriana Verelst

Adriana Verelst (–1769) was an English portrait painter who was patronised by James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos and Cassandra Willoughby, Duchess of Chandos. She was the daughter of Herman Verelst, niece of Simon Verelst, sister of John Verelst (1670–1734) and aunt to William Verelst (1651–1702).

Biography Verelst was the only surviving daughter of Herman Verelst (a portrait painter) and Cecilia Fend, originally from Venice. The date and place of her birth are uncertain. Her parents had been in Vienna from where they fled from the Turkish siege of 1683 to London. Another daughter, Anna Catharina had been born and had died in Vienna in 1681. Verelst was granted British citizenship in 1711 (showing that she wasn't born in Britain). The marriage bond for her wedding of 4 June 1717 gave her age as about 34. Given that her parents arrived in London in 1684, the likely year of birth would be 1682, 1683 or 1684. Thus she may have been born in Vienna or on the road from there to England.

In 1711, Adriana and her brother, John Verelst, applied for naturalization.

Her marriage bond described Verelst as a spinster of St Giles in the Fields (where her father had been buried). Her husband was Richard Baker, a widower of St Andrew's Holborn with one daughter, aged about 42. His occupation was as a plumber and he seems to have been a person of some standing. The marriage took place on 6 June 1717 at St Michael Queenhithe. The outcome was that Richard and Verelst agreed to separate and live apart. A judgement of 25 November 1718 awarded her an annuity of £40 per annum for life for ‘separate maintenance and in lieu and satisfaction of any Demand Right or Title’ that she might later claim. Richard Baker died intestate on 12 December 1732. A subsequent inventory revealed substantial wealth including a house and lease on farms in Highgate. She did claim Richard Baker's inheritance on his death (he having died intestate) but lost with the estate awarded to Baker's daughter from his first marriage, Elizabeth Pearce. Adriana had a reputation as a successful artist when she married in 1717. Her will of July 1765 shows that she was living in the house of a John Duddle, an undertaker and the parish records give her address as Hatton Garden. Adriana requested that her body should be interred ‘in the Rectors Vault in the parish Church of Saint Andrew Holbourne as near as possible to my dearest friend Mrs Henrietta Shelton”. This is in complete contrast to Adriana Verelst where there is contemporary evidence for birth, marriage, career and death but she is not included in later art histories. Peter Hancox has argued that “Maria Verelst” is a misnaming of Adriana Verelst caused by later art dictionary editors expanding abbreviated forms of her name given by authors from Weyerman onwards (“N Verelst”, “Mlle Verelst”, “M. Verelst”) into a fuller form of the name. A Shepherd and Shepherdess (lot 12) Two of the Muses (lot 46) Two Vanities (lot 73)

There is substantial evidence that, by 1725, Verelst had received aristocratic and gentry commissions. She issued receipts for a small portrait for Rosamund Greenwood of Watnall and for alterations to a portrait for Emma Child. Nine portraits and one landscape are listed. The portraits are all of the Duke & Dutchess of Chandos (James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos and Cassandra Brydges) or of his siblings or children.

Pictures listed at St James's Square: This portrait has not yet been traced.

Welbeck portraits The picture collection at Welbeck Abbey was catalogued in 1747, possibly by George Vertue. This included five portraits attributed to “Miss Verelst”, the significance being that Verelst was still alive when this catalogue was compiled.

Mellerstain portraits There are three portraits at Mellerstain House which have been attributed to Maria Verelst. They seem to date from about 1725 and represent a coherent set of portraits of Lady Grizel Baillie and her daughters, Grizel Baillie, Lady Murray and Rachel Baillie, Lady Binning.