Sir Peter Lely
1618 - 1680
Ref: EFA0008
Portrait of Barbara Palmer 1st Duchess of Cleveland 1640-1709, half-length wearing a red dress and portrayed within a cartouche.
Circa 1680
Oil On Canvas
28 x 21 in
70.56 x 52.92 cm
1618 - 1680
Ref: EFA0008
Portrait of Barbara Palmer 1st Duchess of Cleveland 1640-1709, half-length wearing a red dress and portrayed within a cartouche.
Circa 1680
Oil On Canvas
28 x 21 in
70.56 x 52.92 cm
1618 - 1680
Ref: EFA0008
Portrait of Barbara Palmer 1st Duchess of Cleveland 1640-1709, half-length wearing a red dress and portrayed within a cartouche.
Circa 1680
Oil On Canvas
28 x 21 in
70.56 x 52.92 cm
PROVENANCE
From an Italian private collection
ABOUT THE ARTIST
The Dutch artist Peter Lely was trained in Haarlem and came to London in the 1640s. In the early part of his career, he painted Biblical and mythological scenes, but it was as a portraitist that he established his reputation, and he worked throughout the civil wars and Interregnum, becoming the dominant portrait painter to the court.
At the Restoration he was appointed Principal Painter to King Charles II and he was knighted in 1680. By far the most fashionable and influential painter of his time, he also formed a celebrated collection of paintings and drawings. Samuel Pepys called him ‘a mighty proud man, and full of state’.
ABOUT THE SUBJECT
Barbara Villiers was Charles II’s principal mistress between 1660 and 1670 and the most powerful woman at court until she was supplanted by Louise de Kéroualle. The daughter of the Royalist William Villiers, 2nd Viscount Grandison (1614–43), she married Roger Palmer (1634–1705) in 1659; she was granted the title of Countess of Castlemaine in 1661 (entailing the ennoblement of her cuckolded husband Roger Palmer as Earl of Castlemaine) and was elevated to Duchess of Cleveland in her own right in 1670.
After a public disagreement between Charles and Catherine of Braganza in 1662, Lady Castlemaine was made a Lady of the Bedchamber to the queen, and given a pension and lodgings at Whitehall Palace. Between 1660 and 1665 she bore the king five children, all of whom received titles, and though she did not achieve official recognition as maîtresse en titre like the powerful mistresses of French monarchs, her position allowed her to act as an intermediary and negotiate for patronage and benefits on behalf of others.
She devoted much energy to public demonstrations of her hold on the king’s favour, through displays of jewels and wealth and her frequent appearances at court balls and entertainments. Pepys observed in 1663, ‘this day I was told that my Lady Castlemaine hath all the King’s Christmas presents, made him by the peers, given to her .. at the great ball she was much richer in jewels than the Queen and Duchess put together’.
During the 1660s Lady Castlemaine served as the muse of the king’s painter, Sir Peter Lely. She appeared in many paintings by Lely represent as historical or biblical figures but also throughout her life as studio portraits. She was fully aware of the importance of images as promotional tools and Ley was happy to represent ‘her sweetness and exquisite beauty’. We imagine she is near 40 in this portrait.
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