This grand setting multiple person portrait typifies Dahl’s eloquent depiction of aristocratic women and is a fine example of his sophisticated and unassuming style. It is typical of the formula used by Dahl who was best known for his head-and-shoulder images of women.

This intimate portrait traditionally identifies Queen Anne and Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough; who was a renowned beauty and prominent figure at the Courts of King William and Queen Mary and later Queen Anne. A highly respected woman among the upper echelons of English aristocratic society. The extravagant lighting, materials and furnishings and the lively handling of drapery, are characteristic of Dahl’s work.

The stylistic appearance of the portrait and the coiffure suggest a later 1690s dating – which is also the most likely date that Dahl painted his notorious set of ‘beauties’ at Petworth House.

The portrait is a fine example of Dahl's manner at a time when he was in direct competition with the preeminent painter Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723), and it demonstrates that he was capable of outperforming Kneller.

Michael Dahl (1659-1743) was a painter of exceptional talent. Born in Stockholm he studied with David Ehrenstrahl, the leading Swedish portrait painter of his day. Dahl came to London in 1682 where he became acquainted with Godfrey Kneller and in 1685 he left for Europe before returning to London in 1689 where he remained. However During Dahl's absence, Kneller was able to consolidate his supremacy as the fashionable portrait painter, although the prolific Dahl was his closest competitor.

Dahl’s female portraits in general are distinctly different with better drawing for the heads and a more elegant and straightforward portrait. In this instance to better portray the characters and their station and add to the complexity of their relationship Dahl abandoned his normal disdain for and embraced the excessive use of props and other distracting elements often seen in Kneller’s portraits.

In 1698 Dahl was offered the position of painter to the court of the Swedish King, Charles XII, but preferred to stay and settle permanently in London where he established an independent studio and by 1700 became the most successful painter in England, second only to Godfrey Kneller.

His Scandinavian origins ensured patronage from Prince George of Denmark, and Queen Anne and members of the English court.

The death of Kneller in 1723 left Dahl the principal London portraitist. His work is represented in many British country houses and private collections, and in many preeminent museums around the world.

The complex relationship between the Queen Anne and her lady in waiting Sarah Churchill has spurred much artwork. The relationship even recently played out in the movie the Favourite.

Queen Anne and Sarah Churchill were childhood friends—but grew closer in court

Anne was born in 1665, to James, then Duke of York, and his first wife, Anne Hyde. Though her father converted to Catholicism, Anne and her elder sister, Mary, were raised in the Anglican faith, thanks to the influence of their powerful uncle, King Charles II.

Princess Anne was just eight years old when she first met her future aide, Sarah Jennings, who at 13 had just begun serving as a lady-in-waiting to Anne’s stepmother, then the Duchess of York.

The beautiful, intelligent and witty Sarah later married an older army officer, John Churchill, whose impressive military record helped make up for his modest background.

When Anne herself married the handsome Prince George of Denmark in 1683, she made Sarah her second lady of the bedchamber, the first of a number of titles she would bestow upon her close friend.