Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland, c. 1661-1665

Not on View

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 126.1 x 101.5 cm (49 5/8 x 39 15/16 in.)

framed: 152.4 x 127.3 cm (60 x 50 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Timken Collection

Accession Number

1960.6.26

Artists / Makers

Anonymous Artist (painter)

Sir Peter Lely (related artist) English, born Germany, 1618 - 1680

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Provenance

Bethell Walrond, Dulford House, Devon; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 12-13 July 1878, 2nd day, no. 156); (Algernon Graves). Sir Henry-Hope Edwardes, 10th Bt., Wootton Hall, Ashbourne, Derbyshire; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 27 April 1901, no. 11); Martin H. Colnaghi [d. 1908], London; sold 1908 to (Thos. Agnew & Sons, London), in joint account with (Wallis & Son, London); sold 1909 to (Scott & Fowles, New York).[1] Frank Bulkeley Smith [1864-1918], Worcester, Massachusetts; (his estate sale, American Art Association, New York, 22-23 April 1920, 2nd day, no. 109); bought by Otto Bernet, probably as an agent for William R. Timken [1866-1949], New York; by inheritance to his widow, Lillian Guyer Timken [1881-1959], New York; bequest 1960 to NGA.

[1] Thos. Agnew & Sons stock books, recorded by The Provenance Index, J. Paul Getty Trust, Santa Monica, California.

Associated Names

Agnew & Sons, Ltd., Thomas
American Art Association
Bernet, Otto
Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd.
Colnaghi, Martin H.
Edwardes, 10th Bt., Henry Hope, Sir
Graves, Algernon
Scott & Fowles
Smith, Franklin Bulkeley
Timken, Lillian S., Mrs.
Timken, William R.
Wallis & Son, Henry
Walrond, Bethell

Exhibition History

1908: Works by the Old Masters and Deceased Masters of the British School. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1908, no. 184.

1967: Loan for display with permanent collection, Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences (now Chrysler Museum), Virginia, 1967-1972.

Technical Summary

The medium-fine canvas is plain woven; it has been lined. The ground is reddish brown, smoothly applied and of moderate thickness. The painting is executed in thin, fluid, transparent layers in the background with thicker, more opaque paint in the dress and flesh tones and low impasto in some of the details and highlights; certain passages are constructed by means of incorporating multilayered tonalities, such as the gray beneath the white edging of the dress, or the reddish shadows of the flesh paint. The paint surface has been moderately abraded overall, most prominently in the chin and neck, presumably due to overcleaning, and there are scattered retouchings. The face and white cuff were partially cleaned and the painting was revarnished with dammar in 1960; this moderately thick natural resin varnish, toned with dark-colored pigment, has discolored yellow slightly.

Bibliography

1951: Beckett, Ronald B. Lely. London, 1951: no. 100.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 74, as by Sir Peter Lely.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 65, repro., as by Sir Peter Lely.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 192, repro., as by Sir Peter Lely.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 224, repro.

1992: Hayes, John. British Paintings of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 162-165, repro. 163.