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Portrait of Louise de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth

Creator

Dutch Artist · 1618–1680

His real name was van der Faes, but Peter Lely took his nickname after a family home with a lily on its gable. Born in Germany to Dutch parents, by 1637 he was Pieter Lely at the Guild of Saint Luke in Haarlem, where he trained. Ten years later he was in London, where he painted landscapes, religious scenes, and history pictures but quickly recognized the strength of the market in portraiture. Wor

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Date: about 1671–1674
Medium: Oil on canvas
Culture: Dutch
Department: Paintings
Institution: Getty Museum

Louise de Keroualle, the duchess of Portsmouth, sits in front of a window open to a lush landscape. Her loosely draped blue silk dress reveals the creamy skin of her chest and neck. In a pose both sensual and elegant, with her head slightly turned, Louise de Keroualle looks down at the viewer as she plays with a thick, lush strand of her abundant hair. Her features--almond-shaped eyes, gently arched eyebrows, a straight nose, and full red lips--epitomized ideal beauty of the late 1600s. Louise de Keroualle, who worked as a spy for Louis XIV, came to England from France as a Maid of Honour to the sister of King Charles II in 1670. Soon afterward, she became Charles's favorite mistress, and in 1673 he created for her the position of Duchess of Portsmouth. She used her influence to strengthen the friendship between Charles II and Louis XIV.

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