Frances Theresa Stuart, Duchess of Richmond (1647-1702)
studio of Sir Peter Lely (Soest 1618 – London 1680)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1670
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1270 x 1016 mm (50 x 40 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
NT 1246444
Caption
One of the great beauties of the seventeenth century. In her younger days, as maid of honour to the exiled Queen Henrietta Maria and then to Catherine of Braganza at the Restoration court, Louis XIV of France and Charles II of England had each tried to make Frances his mistress. Having overcome these amorous attentions and a bout of smallpox, she appears here in triumph as the wife of Charles Stuart, 3rd Duke of Richmond with whom she had eloped in 1667 much to the king’s chagrin. This was painted by Lely’s assistants after the original portrait, now at Goodwood House in Sussex.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Frances Theresa Stuart, Duchess of Richmond, studio of Sir Peter Lely (Soest 1618 – London 1680), c.1670. A three-quarter-length portrait, facing, her left arm on a stone plinth over which falls a curtain; she stands facing the spectator, she has light brown curled hair, with a tress falling on her left shoulder and is wearing a loose amber coloured gown over a white chemise and a blue cloak; a fluted column left with a relief of two putti, below.
Provenance
Previous history and date of acquisition not recorded; The bequest of Margaret (Anderson) McEwan, The Hon. Mrs Ronald - later Dame Margaret - Henry Fulke Greville, DBE (1863-1942) from probate records linked with the donation of the property to the National Trust in 1943. This item found on the record for Polesden Lacey pictures, drawings etc., the Dining Room, page 124.
Credit line
Polesden Lacey, The McEwan Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
studio of Sir Peter Lely (Soest 1618 – London 1680), artist