Peter Lely

• Honorific Prefix — Sir • Name — Peter Lely • Birth Name — Pieter van der Faes • Born — 14 September 1618 • Birthplace — Soest, Duchy of Cleves, Holy Roman Empire • Died — 30 November 1680 • Place of death — Covent Garden, England • Known for — Painting

Lely was born Pieter van der Faes on 14 September 1618 to Dutch parents in Soest in Westphalia, where his father was an officer serving in the armed forces of the Elector of Brandenburg. He studied painting in Haarlem, where he may have been apprenticed to Pieter de Grebber. He became a master of the Guild of Saint Luke in Haarlem in 1637. He is reputed to have adopted the surname "Lely" (also occasionally spelled Lilly) from a heraldic lily on the gable of the house where his father was born in The Hague. He arrived in London in around 1643, His early English paintings, mainly mythological or religious scenes, or portraits set in a pastoral landscape, show influences from Anthony van Dyck and the Dutch baroque. Lely's portraits were well received, and he succeeded Anthony van Dyck (who had died in 1641) as the most fashionable portrait artist in England. He became a freeman of the Painter-Stainers' Company in 1647 and was a portrait artist to Charles I. His talent ensured that his career was not interrupted by Charles's execution, and he served Oliver Cromwell, whom he painted "warts and all", and Richard Cromwell. In the years around 1650 the poet Sir Richard Lovelace wrote two poems about Lely, "Peinture" and "See! What a clouded majesty!..." • Illustration — Peter Lely – Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich After the English Restoration in 1660, Lely was appointed as Charles II's Principal Painter in Ordinary in 1661, with a stipend of £200 per year, as van Dyck had enjoyed in the previous Stuart reign. Lely became a naturalised English subject in 1662. The young Robert Hooke came to London to follow an apprenticeship with Lely before being given a place at Westminster School by Richard Busby. Lely was knighted in 1680. • Illustration — Long-time mistress of Charles II of England, Nell Gwynne as Venus, with her son, Charles Beauclerk, as Cupid. Demand was high, and Lely and his large workshop were prolific. After Lely painted a sitter's head, his pupils would often complete the portrait in one of a series of numbered poses. As a result, he is the first English painter who has left "an enormous mass of work", although the quality of studio pieces is variable. As Brian Sewell put it: Among his most famous paintings are a series of 10 portraits of ladies from the Royal court, known as the Windsor Beauties, formerly at Windsor Castle but now at Hampton Court Palace; a similar series for Althorp; a series of 12 of the admirals and captains who fought in the Second Anglo-Dutch War, known as the "Flagmen of Lowestoft", now mostly owned by the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich; and his Susannah and the Elders at Burghley House. His most famous non-portrait work is probably Nymphs by a Fountain in Dulwich Picture Gallery. Lely played a significant role in introducing the mezzotint to Britain, as he realized its possibilities for publicising his portraits. He encouraged Dutch mezzotinters to come to Britain to copy his work, laying the foundations for the English mezzotint tradition. Lely lived from about 1651 to 1680 at No. 10–11 Great Piazza, Covent Garden. He was knighted in 1679. Lely died on 30 November 1680 at his easel in Covent Garden, while painting a portrait of the Duchess of Somerset; it is believed he likely died after a stroke. Sir Peter was buried at St Paul's Church, Covent Garden on 7 December 1680, and his funerary inscription is now lost. • Illustration — Nymphs by a Fountain, an atypical mythological work

Lely was first and foremost a portraitist. He painted both men and women, but with a greater inclination towards the latter, whose cleavage was often accentuated, sometimes to the point of having one breast fully exposed (such as in Margaret Hughes's earlier portrait, seen below). The loss in 1929 of a "family portrait by Sir Peter Lely" was reported in the fire at Pit House, Farley Heath, Albury.

• Illustration — Earl and Countess of Oxford • Illustration — Sir Robert Worsley, 3rd Baronet • Illustration — Lady Mary Fane by Sir Peter Lely • Illustration — Queen Mary II • Illustration — Portrait of a man, thought to be George Booth, Lord Delamere, 1660 • Illustration — Portrait of Lady Elizabeth Strickland, née Pile • Illustration — Catherine of Braganza, Queen of England 1665 • Illustration — Portrait of a Lady with a Blue Drape, circa 1660 • Illustration — Abraham Cowley, c. 1665–66 • Illustration — Two ladies from the Lake family, 1650. • Illustration — Diana Kirke, later Countess of Oxford, 1665 • Illustration — A Boy as a Shepherd • Illustration — Charles II of England, c. 1675 • Illustration — Jane Howard, Duchess of Norfolk • Illustration — Dudley, Daughter of Sr. Henry North, Bart., Wife of Sir Thomas Cullum • Illustration — Sir Thomas Fanshawe of Jenkins and his wife Margaret • Illustration — Madonna and Child by Sir Peter Lely • Illustration — Sir William Ashburnham • Illustration — Lady Frances Savile, Later Lady Brudenell • Illustration — Portrait of Margaret Hughes c. 1670. • Illustration — Portrait of Charlotte Lee, Countess of Lichfield 1674 • Illustration — Sir John Holland, 1st Baronet • Illustration — Sir Thomas Lee, 1st Baronet

Works recorded as notable number 3: Peter Pett and the Sovereign of the Seas, Portrait of Charles I, with his second son, James, Duke of York and Portrait of George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, English Admiral and Statesman. His recorded genres are portrait and painting.

* * * • Marciari-Alexander, Julia Mary. "Self-Fashioning and Portraits of Women at the Restoration Court: The Case of Peter Lely and Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine, 1660–1668." Ph.D. dissertation—Yale University, 1999. Proquest dissertations 9954266. • The entry includes a bibliography. * * * *