Lot Essay
The present picture relates to a known portrait type of the sitter by an artist working in Lely's studio (in a Private Collection, U.S.), perhaps after a lost original by Lely himself. The head is based on that in Lely's portrait of the sitter now in the Swindon Art Gallery.
According to Sir Peter Lely it was 'beyond the compass of art' to give Barbara Villiers 'her due, as to her sweetness and exquisite beauty'. She was among the women most often painted by the artist, acting as his muse during the 1660s, the period of her greatest dominance at court as the mistress of King Charles II.
According to Sir Peter Lely it was 'beyond the compass of art' to give Barbara Villiers 'her due, as to her sweetness and exquisite beauty'. She was among the women most often painted by the artist, acting as his muse during the 1660s, the period of her greatest dominance at court as the mistress of King Charles II.