John Leslie, Duke of Rothes (c.1630-1681)
Sir Peter Lely (Soest 1618 – London 1680)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1660 - 1665
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1220 x 1050 mm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Ham House, Surrey
NT 1139951
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, John Leslie, Duke of Rothes (c.1630-1681) by Sir Peter Lely (Soest 1618 – London 1680). A three-quarter-length portrait of a young man, turned to the left, glancing over his left shoulder and gazing at the spectator, gesturing to the left with his right hand his left hand on the hilt of his drawn sword, he has light brown 'natural' shoulder-length hair and is wearing a white satin coat beneath a buff leather jerkin beneath a cuirass. Around his waist he has a large crimson sash with a gold fringe which is tied with a large bow at the back. The right background is composed of a rock formation and there is a wooded landscape on the left with a stormy sky.
Provenance
In around 1683 catalogue and 1683 valuation list and thence by descent until acquired in 1948 by HM Government when Sir Lyonel, 4th Bt (1854 – 1952) and Sir Cecil Tollemache, 5th Bt (1886 – 1969) presented Ham House to the National Trust, and entrusted to the care of the Victoria & Albert Museum, until 1990, when returned to the care of the National Trust, and to which ownership was transferred in 2002
Credit line
Ham House, The Dysart Collection (purchased by HM Government in 1948 and transferred to the National Trust in 2002)
Makers and roles
Sir Peter Lely (Soest 1618 – London 1680), artist
References
Prized Possessions: Dutch Paintings from National Trust Houses (exh. cat.), Holburne Museum, Bath 25 May - 16 Sep 2018; Mauritshuis, The Hague, 11 Oct 2018 - 6 Jan 2019; Petworth House, West Sussex, 26 Jan - 24 Mar 2019., pp. 118, 119.