Peter Lely

“ Until the publication of Mrs. Jameson's "Beauties," there existed a popular fallacy, that every one of Sir Peter Lely's portraits, represented a woman of tainted reputation; this was any thing but true; however poisonous a malaria may be, there are always some who escape its influence, and the pure and high-souled Lady Ossory, and the noble Countess de Grammont would adorn even a court such as our own; we wish that Evelyn or Pepys had recorded how those ladies treated "Nell," for they must have met her during their attendance on the outraged Queen, and hardly less insulted Duchess of York ”

“ A second edition in two octavo volumes followed in 1828 (London) . A third and enlarged edition in five volumes octavo appeared in 1848–1849, and a fourth in four in 1854 (London) . In 1875–1879 Dr Minors Bright published a still fuller edition in six volumes octavo (London) . Many portraits of Pepys are known to have been taken and several can be traced. One was taken by Savill (1661) , another by John Hales (1666) , now in the National Portrait Gallery. A portrait by Sir Peter Lely is in the Pepysian library, Magdalene College, Cambridge. ”

“ There is no armour against fate:
Death lays his icy hands on Kings.
Lely should have painted Nelly in her mourning; but the delicate hand which drew with so much grace the Beauties of King Charles the Second's Court, and Nelly with her lamb among them, was lying torpid under the church in Covent Garden, and the painters who succeeded him, Wissing, Kneller, and Verelst, had little skill in transferring from life to canvas those essential graces of expression which Lely caught so inimitably in his La Belle Hamilton and his Madame Gwyn. ”

“ And with the man his very hope or feare;
So that th' amazed world shall henceforth finde
None but my LILLY ever drew a MINDE.
<45.1> Mr., afterwards Sir Peter, Lely. He was frequently called Lilly, or Lilley, by his contemporaries, and Lilley is Pepys' spelling. "At Lord Northumberland's, at Sion, is a remarkable picture of King Charles I, holding a letter directed 'au roi monseigneur,' and the Duke of York, aet. 14, presenting a penknife to him to cut the strings. It was drawn at Hampton Court, when the King was last there, by Mr. Lely, who was earnestly recommended to him. ”

“ But few—the Lely with the lamb excepted—render justice to those charms of face and figure which her contemporaries loved to admire, and which Lely alone had the skill to transfer even in part to canvas. [22] Relics of Nelly are of rare occurrence. ”

“ With the single exception of a too grave and thoughtful picture in the Lely room at Hampton Court, there is not a single picture of Nelly in any of the royal collections. When Queen Charlotte was asked whether she recollected a famous picture of Nell Gwyn, known to have existed in the Windsor gallery, and which Her Majesty herself was suspected of having removed, she replied at once "that most assuredly since she had resided at Windsor there had been no Nell Gwyn there." ”

“ With regard to Lely's character, we may safely judge from his works that he was such a man as Samuel Pepys, 'of easy virtue,' a man holding a low enough standard by which to measure himself and others. Mr Palgrave quotes from Mr Leslie the following characteristic anecdote of Lely, which seems to prove that he was aware of, and coolly accepted, the decline of art in his generation and person. A nobleman said to Lely, 'How is it that you have so great a reputation, when you know, as well as I do, that you are no painter?' 'True, but I am the best you have,' was the answer. ”

“ She was a perfect type of Lely's heroines: he had painted her more than once and had delighted in her blonde loveliness, her small features, her great languishing blue eyes, her soft foolish mouth, the pale yellow hair smooth as satin in its great curls, the white shoulders and rosy fingers, the full throat and entrancing little dimple in her chin; she should now have been at the height of her beauty, but unhappiness had worn her delicate face, dimmed her eyes and dragged her mouth, marring the whole with an expression of fretful misery. ”

“ His famous series of ‘Beauties,’ originally at Windsor Castle, but now at Hampton Court, was executed for the Duchess of York. Every lady in England expected to be painted in the same manner, and there is hardly a family mansion in England which does not possess some portrait bearing Lely's name. His male portraits have been less appreciated than those of his lady sitters, though his best work may be found in some of them. After the naval victory at Solebay in 1665, the Duke of York commissioned Lely to paint portraits of the admirals and commanders in the engagement. ”

“ A list of sitters was strictly kept, and no consideration was paid to any sitter of whatever rank who lost his turn by unpunctuality or default. After his painting hours he usually entertained a large company at dinner. Samuel Pepys, in his diary, gives some lifelike descriptions of Lely's establishment. On 18 June 1662 he writes: ‘I walked to Lilly, the painter's, where I saw, among other rare things, the Duchesse of York, her whole body, sitting in state in a chair, in white satin, and another of the king's, that is not finished; most rare things. ”

“ Lely’s paintings are carefully finished, warm and clear in colouring, and animated in design. The graceful posture of the heads, the delicate rounding of the hands, and the broad folds of the draperies are admired in many of his portraits. The eyes of the ladies are drowsy with languid sentiment, and allegory of a commonplace sort is too freely introduced. ”

“ He came to England in 1643, and profited by his art under Charles I., the Protectorate, and Charles II. Walpole said of Lely's nymphs that they are "generally reposed on the turf, and are too wanton and too magnificent to be taken for anything but Maids of Honour."
The well-known collection of Lely's portraits at Hampton Court includes, among others, those of the Duchess of Richmond; the Countess of Rochester; Mrs. Middleton the celebrated beauty ”

“ Lely set the fashion for portraiture in his time; no painter could hope to succeed if he did not conform to his style. Amongst a crowd of foreigners who sought to share his popularity were Henry Gascar, James Huysman, and Sunman, from the Netherlands—all excellent portrait painters. Netscher also came hither for a short time; and William Wissing, of Amsterdam, an admirable artist, succeeded Lely at his death, and was only eclipsed by the rising fame of Kneller, a German, who afterwards became king William's court painter. ”

“ Leslie still demurred. “I——” she glanced about her at the little group of friendly, interested faces. She understood that her friends were hoping she might say “yes.” “I guess—so,” she said uncertainly. “Yes, I’ll accept the honor, mostly, though, to please you girls, and—Peter the Great.”
“Hurrah, hurray, hurroo!” Leila sent up a jubilant little cheer. “The world shall yet hear of us. Cairns and Harper, the greatest living promoters of high-class campus drama. That 37is what people will presently be saying about us.”
“Nothing succeeds like nerve,” Jerry declared. ”

“ Leerie’s arms went out to Peter in complete surrender. “Oh, Peter—Peter—it’s morning!”
But it was almost noon before Peter began to think intelligently again, and then he remembered something, something that ought to be done. “I think,” he said, “I think we ought to go out and tell Hennessy and the swans; we sort of owe it to them.”
And it all ended even as Peter had prophesied in his yarn by Doctor Dempsy’s bedside. ”

“ You see, superintendents are always supposed to have infallible judgment on all matters,” she sighed. “I have never but once known Leerie to break a rule or ask for a special dispensation without a reason—a good reason. But I don’t understand what lies behind all this.”
[Pg 130] “I do.” Peter fairly roared it forth. “She loves that man, and she’s afraid this might ruin his career if—if anything happened. Why, it’s as plain as these four walls and the ceiling above us. No woman pleads for a man that way unless she loves him better than anything else on God’s earth.” ”

“ Now, sir, this old pennyfather would marry her to one Peter Plod-all, rich Plod-all's son and heir; whom though his father means to leave very rich, yet he's a very idiot and brownbread clown, and one I know the wench does deadly hate: and though their friends have given their full consent, and both agreed on this unequal match, yet I know that Lelia will never marry him. But there's another rival in her love—one Sophos; and he's a scholar, one whom I think fair Lelia dearly loves, but her father hates him as he hates a toad ”

“ Walpole, in his "Anecdotes of Painting," says, "Lely supplied the want of taste with clinquant; his nymphs trail fringes, and embroidery, through meadows and purling streams. Vandyke's habits are those of the times; Lely's, a sort of fantastic night-gown fastened with a single pin." Lely's ladies are not unfrequently en masque, and are habited in the conventional dresses adopted for goddesses in the court of Versailles. ”

“ Among the portraits are some good Lelys, including two of Sir Carr Scrope who was so enamoured of the Court physician's daughter. [33] Another Lely of a handsome girl is said to represent one of the Royalist Stricklands of Sizergh. Above the black oak staircase of James I.'s time hangs a rare portrait of Mary of Modena; for one seldom sees her when the beauty of youth had departed, for naturally she did not like to be handed thus down to posterity. The queen looks sour here, which tallies with the accounts we have of her in later life ”

“ Nothing is sleepy, but everything is soft, sweet, and innocent in that face so beautiful and so beloved.'
Whilst the colours were fresh on Lely's palettes, James Duke of York, that profligate who aped the saint, saw it, and henceforth paid his court to the original, but was repelled with fearless hauteur. The dissolute nobles of the court followed his example, even to the 'lady-killer' Jermyn, but in vain. Unhappily for La Belle Hamilton, she became sensible to the attractions of De Grammont, whom she eventually married. ”

“ Nothing could have made Peter dislike things pleasant to look at; but Leslie's persevering, uncomprehending groping after their pleasantness made one feel desirous to dig a gulf between them and him. It was rather ageing. Peter missed Urquhart and Lucy; one felt much younger with them. The thought of their clean, light, direct touch on life, that handled its goods without fumbling, and without the need of any intervening medium, was as refreshing as a breath of fresh air in a close room. ”

“ Miss Maxwell joined him a moment later, looking outrageously relieved. She flashed Peter an apologetic smile.
“I know it’s shameless of me to look glad when you look so miserable. But I can’t help feeling that we are going to win. Leerie deserves it after what she’s suffered for him. That man couldn’t fail her, and her trust is bound to make good. Don’t you see?”
Peter’s shoulders gave an unconvincing shrug. “I hope so. He ought to—if he’s half-way a man.” He looked at his watch. “Almost morning now. Guess I’ll pack my things and be ready to start as soon as I know Dempsy’s all right.” ”

“ He is careless in his dress, utterly indifferent to externals, and wholly without affectation. He is the man who warned Lely, when painting his picture, to put in all the roughnesses, pimples, and warts of his countenance, or he would not pay a farthing for the work. ”

“ Leila stood within this chamber, pale and breathless, with her lips apart, her hands clasped, her very soul in her ears; nor was it possible to conceive a more perfect ideal of some delicate and brilliant Peri, captured in the palace of a hostile and gloomy Genius. Her form was of the lightest shape consistent with the roundness of womanly beauty; and there was something in it of that elastic and fawnlike grace which a sculptor seeks to embody in his dreams of a being more aerial than those of earth. ”

“ If he had been in England, Peter would have felt bound to offer him the goblet, and he would have paid for it too enormous a price to be endured. Leslie's generosity was sometimes rather overwhelming.
When Peter took Hilary and Peggy the cheque he had received, and told them what he had received it for, Hilary said, "I suppose these things must be. It was fortunate you did not ask my advice, Peter; I should have hesitated what to say. It is uncommonly like bartering one's soul for guineas. To what we are reduced!" ”

“ As he crossed the line Reilly caught a glimpse of Washington. He stood close to the flag and was waving his hat in the air with the enthusiasm of a schoolboy. Reilly went on down the road slackening his speed as effectively as he could. But before it was possible to entirely stop his{255} wheel’s momentum the noisy acclamations in his rear ceased with startling suddenness. He turned in his saddle and looked back. As sure as St. Peter he had the road entirely to himself. There wasn’t a soldier or the ghost of a soldier in sight. ”

“ She rose, at length slipped silently as an Indian to the grand archway and made a comprehensive survey of the French salon beyond the arch. Satisfied that no one was there to spy upon her she next inspected the sun parlor. There her father always established himself in the morning, when at home, with the morning papers. The long mahogany library table was stacked with an orderly array of newspapers and magazines. That in itself was significant proof to Leslie that “Peter the Great” was “missing from the show shop.” ”