Peter Lely the british baroque

Outline In Days of Ease, when now the weary Sword Was sheath’d, and Luxury with Charles restor’d, [...] Lely on animated canvas stole The sleepy Eye, that spoke the melting soul. Alexander Pope, Imitations of Horace, 1733-38 I From Dutch import to knighted Englishman II The face of the nation: self-fashioning and portraiture under Lely III The industry of art, through mass production and art collection

A Dutchman made British - 1618-1680 - Pieter van der Faes, born in Germany, trained in Haarlem (Netherlands) - Pieter Grebber - moved to London around 1641-43 - prominent position as court painter - 1662 naturalised English subject, knighted in 1680

Nymphs by a Fountain, 1650. Oil on canvas, 128.5 x 144.6cm.

Portrait of Oliver Cromwell, 1653-54. Oil on canvas,  73 x 61cm.

Self-fashioning in the 17th century -  The name ‘’Lely’’; following in the steps of Van Dyck - general tendancy to self-fashioning Margaret Cavendish - portraiture as a means of giving power back to the monarchy and aristocracy (Solkin), very lucrative for painters. The Flagmen of Lowestoft

Flagmen of Lowestoft: Admiral Sir John Harman, d. 1673. 1666 Flagmen of Lowestoft: Admiral Sir John Harman, d. 1673. 1666. Oil on canvas, 127 x 101.5 cm.

A new politics of pleasure - “Windsor Beauties”, 1660s, commissioned by the Duchess of York. - “peekaboo nipples” (Schama) - baroque : clair-obscur, influence of Van Dyck. Richness.

Portrait of a young woman and child, as Venus and Cupid, 1670s Portrait of a young woman and child, as Venus and Cupid, 1670s. Oil on canvas, 123.19 x 156.21 cm.

Portrait of Louise de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth, ca 1671-74 Portrait of Louise de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth, ca 1671-74. Oil on canvas, 125.1 × 101.6 cm.

Industry of art - mass production - mezzotint - important art collector

Conclusion - Dutch-trained painter who became great British baroque painter - at the service of whoever was in power (patronage) but £££ - sensual ladies - in huge quantity - important art collector SIr Peter Lely, ca 1660. Oil on canvas, 108 x 87.6 cm.

Bibliography - Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - Schama, Simon. The Face of Britain: The Nation Through its Portraits. London: Viking, 2015. - Solkin, David. Art in Britain 1660-1815. Yale: Yale University Press, 2015.