Bernard Lens III

A portrait of Bernard Lens III by his son Peter Paul Lens. Around 1734. 1723 portrait of the artist's son, Andrew Benjamin Lens, by Bernard Lens III (Victoria and Albert Museum, P.40-1922). Bernard Lens III (27 May 1682 – 24 December 1740) was an English artist known primarily for his portrait miniatures. Lens was the miniature painter at the courts of kings George I and George II, and consultant in fine arts to upper-class families. Sturt was a member of the Company of Goldsmiths, but the membership was merely a license to work within the City of London, not an indicator of his actual trade. — became prolific draftsmen (Walpole: "ingenious painters in miniature") Another son, Andrew Benjamin Lens, born around 1713, also was a miniaturist.

His main competitor was Christian Friedrich Zincke, who worked in enamel. Horace Walpole called Bernard Lens III "the incomparable painter in watercolours" and lamented that his copies of great masters "had all the merits of the originals except what they deserved too: duration."

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