Peter Lely: A Collection of 56 Paintings

Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 7 December 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. Lely was first and foremost a portraitist. He painted both men and women, but with a greater inclination towards the latter, whose cleavage was often accentuated, sometimes to the point of having one breast fully exposed (such as in Margaret Hughes’s earlier portrait, seen below). Lely also occasionally painted certain historical scenes, seen above. The loss in 1929 of a “family portrait by Sir Peter Lely“ was reported in the fire at Pit House, Farley Heath, Albury. #danielearte #onlineartgallery #dutchpainter