John Riley (London 1646-1691)

The King sat to Riley in circa 1682, for a head and shoulders portrait, the original of which may either be at Holker Hall, Cumbria, or Melbourne Hall, Derbyshire. Riley later evolved a three-quarter-length portrait in armour, of which this is a fine example, along with a painting in the Bodleian New Building, Oxford. The quality of the execution of the face and the presence of pentimenti, together with the more elaborate armour, may indicate that the present portrait is the original of that extended format.