{"id":727,"date":"2024-12-08T18:56:32","date_gmt":"2024-12-08T18:56:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.everett-art.co.uk\/shop\/?post_type=product&p=727"},"modified":"2026-08-11T14:44:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T13:44:31","slug":"sir-peter-lely","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/everett-art.co.uk\/gallery\/product\/sir-peter-lely\/","title":{"rendered":"Sir Peter Lely"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PROVENANCE<\/strong><\/p>\n

From an Italian private collection<\/p>\n

ABOUT THE ARTIST<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u2018a mighty proud man, and full of state\u2019.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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ABOUT THE SUBJECT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Barbara Villiers was Charles II\u2019s principal mistress between 1660 and 1670 and the most powerful woman at court until she was supplanted by Louise de K\u00e9roualle. The daughter of the Royalist William Villiers, 2nd Viscount Grandison (1614\u201343), she married Roger Palmer (1634\u20131705) 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.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0ma\u00eetresse en titre\u00a0like 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.<\/p>\n

She devoted much energy to public demonstrations of her hold on the king\u2019s favour, through displays of jewels and wealth and her frequent appearances at court balls and entertainments. Pepys observed in 1663, \u2018this day I was told that my Lady Castlemaine hath all the King\u2019s 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\u2019.<\/p>\n

During the 1660s Lady Castlemaine served as the muse of the king\u2019s 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.\u00a0\u00a0She was fully aware of the importance of images as promotional tools and Ley was happy to represent \u2018her sweetness and exquisite beauty\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0We imagine she is near 40 in this portrait.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1618 – 1680<\/p>\n

Portrait of Barbara Palmer 1st Duchess of Cleveland 1640-1709, half-length wearing a red dress and portrayed within a cartouche.<\/p>\n

Circa 1680<\/p>\n

Oil On Canvas<\/p>\n

28 x 21 in \u00a0| \u00a070.56 x 52.92 cm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":21095,"template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[25,23],"product_tag":[],"class_list":["post-727","product","type-product","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","product_cat-all-stock","product_cat-portrait","first","instock","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everett-art.co.uk\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everett-art.co.uk\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everett-art.co.uk\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everett-art.co.uk\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everett-art.co.uk\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everett-art.co.uk\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=727"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everett-art.co.uk\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=727"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everett-art.co.uk\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}