Louis Laguerre

Born in Versailles in 1663 and trained at the Paris Academy under Charles Le Brun, he came to England in 1683, where he first worked with Antonio Verrio, and then on his own.

He rivalled with Sir James Thornhill in the field of history painting, primarily decorating the great houses of the nobility.

His subject matter included English victories over the armies of Louis XIV; at Hampton Court Palace he carried out work for William III of England, for whom he depicted the Labours of Hercules.

[2] In 1731 Alexander Pope wrote, On painted ceilings you devoutly stare Where sprawl the saints of Verrio or Laguerre...[3] which was taken by some contemporaries to be a reference to Laguerre's work for James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos at this church and the nearby Cannons House.

Laguerre was also a director of Godfrey Kneller's London Academy of Drawing and Painting, founded in the autumn of 1711.