"Barbara Villiers, Duchess
of Cleveland, as a Shepherdess," John Michael Wright, circa
1670.
Painted
Ladies at the Court of Charles II Head to Yale in
January
LONDON - "Painted Ladies: Women at the Court of Charles II" is on
view through January 6, 2002 at the National Portrait Gallery.
Organized by the gallery and Yale Center for British Art, New
Haven, Conn., the show can be seen in the Wolfson Gallery.
The exhibition will run at Yale Center for British Art, New
Haven, Conn., January 25 to March 17, 2002.
The major loan exhibition, the first exploration and
reconsideration of Restoration portraiture in 20 years, brings
together some of the most beautiful and intriguing portraits from
the reign of Charles II. Focusing on women of prominence and
influence within the court, from royal brides and daughters to
mistresses and actresses, the exhibition considers the ways in
which these women were portrayed and their reputations, both
during their lifetimes and in later centuries.
Court portraiture was dominated by the paintings of Sir Peter
Lely, the King's Principal Painter and the most successful and
prolific painter of the day. Among the portraits by Lely in the
exhibition are loans from the Royal Collection and four important
paintings from Althorp, Northhamptonshire, lent by Earl Spencer
whose ancestor, the Earl of Sunderland, assembled the largest
body of work anywhere by this artist.
Special sections of the exhibition are devoted to Barbara
Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland, and Louise de Keroualle, Duchess
of Portsmouth, the king's most important and influential
mistresses. Both were made Duchesses in their own right,
installed in lavish apartments in the royal palaces, and their
children were ennobled.
Barbara Villiers, the mother of six of the king's 14 known
illegitimate children, set the standard of fashionable beauty and
was painted many times by Lely, who is said to have put something
of her appearance into all his portraits.
Louise de Keroualle, sent from France by Louis XIV, brought
French fashions - including portraiture - to court, and promoted
French interest. Hated by the people for her nationality and
Catholicism, she was the most influential and beloved of the
king's mistresses.
The most famous today of all the women at Charles II's court is
Nell Gwyn, the comic actress-turned-mistress of the king.
Ironically she is the most elusive in portraiture; although many
portraits have been given her name, very few can be identified as
Nell Gwyn with certainty. The few certain images of her and the
mythology that grew up around her are considered in the
exhibition.
Her fellow actress Mary "Moll" Davies also caught the king's
attention for a while, and the exhibition includes a portrait of
her playing a newly fashionable guitar.
The exhibition also includes portraits of women whose reputations
were less colorful: Charles's pious and put-upon queen, Catherine
of Braganza, and members of her court; women who were patrons of
art or political operators; royal princesses destined for
marriages of political expedience.
The portraits range from spectacular full-length oils to
exquisite and intimate miniatures. Important medals, including
the Peace of Breda golden medal showing the king's favorite,
Francis Stuart, as Britannia, are also included. The flourishing
print trade, which disseminated the portraiture of these women
well beyond the court, is represented by some of the most
striking and skillfully made engravings and mezzotints of the
period.
The reign of Charles II is one of the most fascinating, yet
neglected, periods in British history. The court that established
itself after the violence of the Civil War and the repression of
the Interregnum reflected the character of the king - cynical,
easygoing, and promiscuous.
Women had a new prominence at court, and the king's mistresses,
drawn from every stratum of society, were the dominant figures.
By looking at the context in which their portraits were produced,
the life histories of the women and their reputations, the
exhibition reassesses long-held assumptions not only about the
art of the period but also about cultural and gender politics of
the time.
A fully illustrated catalogue accompanies the exhibition, with
essays by Catharine MacLeod, National Portrait Gallery, and Julia
Marciari Alexander, Yale Center for British Art, and
contributions from Kevin Sharpe, Sonya Wynne and Diana Dethloff.
The collection of work by Lely can be viewed at Althorp, which
will open to visitors from July 1 to August 30.
Gallery hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and
Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm. For information, www.npg.org.uk.
