Sir Peter Lely (Soest, Westphalia 1618-1680 London)

This lively ad vivum portrait, which may well be a study for a larger work, is datable to circa 1660 on stylistic grounds. Lely's technical abilities had reached their highest point by this stage in his career and some of his finest portraits are from this period. The esteem in which his work was held was reflected in his appointment soon after the Restoration in 1660 as Court Painter to King Charles II which confirmed his status as the leading portrait painter in the country. The pose of the sitter is strikingly similar to that of James, Duke of York, in Lely's double portrait of him together with the Duchess of York of circa 1663 at Petworth (for which see R. Beckett, Lely, 1951, p.16, no.575, pl.81).