Circle of Jean-Baptiste Van Loo (French, 1684-1745) Portrait of Horatio, 1st Lord Walpole of Wolverton, PC (1678-1757), half length, in long grey wig, blue jacket and gold waistcoat Oil on canvas 73 x 62cm Provenance: West Acre High House, Norfolk; Cheffins, 'West Acre High House', 24 November 2010, Lot 520, where acquired by the vendor; Wood Hall, Arkesden, Essex. Horatio Walpole was the son of Robert Walpole of Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Jean-Baptiste Van Loo’s original painting of Horatio Walpole is in the Norwich Castle Museum, Norfolk. Horace Walpole entered Parliament in 1702, remaining a member for fifty-four years. In 1715, when his brother, Sir Robert, became first Lord of the Treasury, he was made Secretary to the Treasury, and in 1716, having already had some experience of the kind, he went on a diplomatic mission to The Hague. He left office with his brother in 1717, but he was soon in harness again, becoming secretary to the lord-lieutenant of Ireland in 1720 and Secretary to the Treasury a second time in 1721. In 1722 he was again at The Hague, and in 1723 he went to Paris, where in the following year he was appointed envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary. He got on intimate terms with Fleury and seconded his brother in his efforts to maintain friendly relations with France; he represented Great Britain at the congress of Soissons and helped to conclude the treaty of Seville (November 1729). He left Paris in 1730 and in 1734 went to represent his country at The Hague, where he remained until 1740, using all his influence in the cause of European peace. He was in 1739 a founding governor for London's most fashionable charity of the time, the Foundling Hospital. After the fall of Sir Robert Walpole in 1742, Horatio defended his conduct in the House of Commons and also in a pamphlet, 'The Interest of Great Britain steadily pursued'. In 1724 he engaged Thomas Ripley to design him a new house at Wolterton in Norfolk to replace one that had burnt down. Wolterton Hall was completed in 1742. In 1756 he was created Baron Walpole of Wolterton and he died 5 February 1757 at his house in Whitehall. Condition report: Oil on canvas which has been lined. The tension is stiff and the canvas is in plane. The paint layer is in a good condition overall. There is an old damage in the sitter's jacket which has been filled and retouched, the retouching is starting to flake away. There are other, small, scattered retouchings across the surface which are reasonably well matched to the original. The varnish is yellowed and semi-matte with a layer of surface dirt and accretions. There is wear and loss to the gilded surface on the frame and a heavy build up of dust.