Lot 139
139
Circle of Sir Peter Lely (Soest 1618-1680 London)
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more The Property of St. Mary's University College, removed from Strawberry Hill, Twickenham (lots 133-138)
Circle of Sir Peter Lely (Soest 1618-1680 London)

Portrait of a lady traditionally identified as Mary of Modena, Duchess of York (1658-1718), bust-length, in a rust dress and blue wrap, in a sculpted oval

Details
Circle of Sir Peter Lely (Soest 1618-1680 London)
Portrait of a lady traditionally identified as Mary of Modena, Duchess of York (1658-1718), bust-length, in a rust dress and blue wrap, in a sculpted oval
oil on canvas
29½ x 25 in. (75 x 63.5 cm.)
Provenance
with Legatt Bros., London; Anonymous sale, Christie's, London, 27 January 1956, lot 123 (20 gns. to O'Connor).
Exhibited
Worcestershire, The Worcester Exhibition, 1882.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

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Lot Essay

The present portrait appears similar to Lely's three-quarter-length portrait of Mary of Modena at Althorp, in which the stance of the sitter's head, looking to her right, and the style of her hair bear some comparison. However, Lely's portraits of the 1670s very much set the fashion for a repetition of pose and composition in portraiture.

Maria Beatrice d'Este, daughter of Alphonso II, Duke of Modena, was married in 1673 to James, Duke of York, later King James II. Her devout Catholicism was seen as a threat to the Protestant succession, and more generally to the religious stability of the nation.

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