Discover painter, court painter, collector of Italian painting Peter Lely

Name variations

This field records and makes accessible name variations, as found in sources. Alternate spellings, nicknames, maiden names - with or without the married name - are included in this category.

: Lely, Peter (Sir)
Faes, Pieter van der
Lelio, Peter
Lilley, Peter
Lilly, Peter
Lylly, Peter
Lelij, Pieter
the pseudonym Lely appears to have originated from the carved decoration of a lily on house of the van der Faes family, In de Lelye, on the western side of the Noordeinde in The Hague (Dethloff 2004/2009)

Monogram: PL

Qualifications: painter, court painter, collector of Italian painting, drawing collector, print collector, collector of Dutch and Flemish painting
court painter of Charles I and Charles II; had a large art collection (paintings, drawings and prints), which was auctioned between 1682 and 1694 (Dethloff 2003)

Nationality/school: North Netherlandish, English, German
naturalized by the British Parliament on 16 May 1662

Born: Soest (Arnsberg) 1618-09-14
Houbraken 1719

Deceased: London (England) 1680-11-30
He died with palette in hand while portraying the Duchess of Somerset (Von Wurzbach 1906). According to Houbraken he died just before an appointment with a lady who was going to be portrayed (Houbraken 1719). He was buried in St Paul’s, Covent Garden, on 7 December 1680.

Family relationships this field records any family relationship to one or more other artist(s).: son of captain Johannes van der Faes (c. 1592-1639/47) from The Hague and Abigaël van der Vliet from Utrecht. He had two sisters, Anna and Catharina Maria. He probably never married, but with his common-law wife, Ursula he had two surviving children, John and Anne; Ursula died soon after a son Peter was born in 1674, who died soon afterwards (Collins Baker 1912, vol. 1, p. 137).

See also In this field, you will find references to names of groups or to the artists that made/make up groups. You may also come across references to other artists if there was/is question of collaboration without a joint name. This is the case, for instance, with artists who rendered parts of works by other artists (such as with P.P Rubens and J. Brueghel I).

This person/entity in other databases

132 hits in RKDimages as artist
43 hits in RKDimages as provenance
13 hits in RKDlibrary as subject
378 hits in RKDexcerpts as artist

Suggested searches in RKDartists&

Biographical information

Active in

Haarlem (stad) 1637-10-06
mentioned on that date ('Pieter Lelij') in the 'finder' book of the guild of Saint Luke as an apprentice of Frans Pietersz de Grebber
Londen (Engeland) 1641 - 1680
left for Engeland between 1641 and 1643. According to Houbraken he embarked with Willem II, who went to England to marry the daughter of King Charles I. He probably first worked for the painter George Geldorp; began as a history and landscape painter, but soon started to paint portraits.
Amsterdam (stad) 1656
Lely continued to keep contacts with Holland his whole life. He traveled in 1656 on a passport to Amsterdam. He was befriended with the art dealer Gerrit Uylenburgh there; one of the brothers of Gerrit, the painter Abraham Uylenborgh died in Dublin in 1668. In a deed (in English) dated Feb. 3, 1668 signed in Amsterdam by the heirs of Abraham (his brother and three sisters) they 'appoincted their trusty and well beloved friend MR. PETER LELY [...], to bee their true and lawfull "attourney and procurator"' (Bredius 1884, p. 219-220).
Haarlem (stad) 1656
probably also visited Haarlem, bringing back a painting by Frans Hals for his own collection (Shaw 1990, p. 404)
Londen (Engeland) 1656 - 1680
Lely received a pension of £ 200 in October 1661 from Charles II, as Van Dyck had previously received from Charles I; he was ennobled in 1679

born in

active in

died in

Connections with other artists

Pupil of This field mentions the names of teachers or masters. What is at issue are the teachers who made a significant contribution to the development of a students, as opposed to every instructor they ever had. See also the 'Education' field.: Grebber, Frans Pietersz. de
Houbraken wrongly states that Lely was a pupil of his son Pieter de Grebber (Von Wurzbach 1910); this is taken over in Saur 2015; however, Lely was a pupil of Frans Pieters. de Grebber (Miedema 1980)
Teacher of This field mentions the names of pupils. What is at issue are the pupils who were significantly influenced by a teacher as opposed to every student someone ever had. See also the 'Education' field.: Bokshoorn, Joseph
Claret, William
Deuren, Olivier van
Dixon, John
Dixon, Matthew
Eyden, Jeremias van der
Gibson, Richard
Gibson, William
Greenhill, John
Hawker, Thomas
Hooke, Robert
Jaspers, Jan Baptist
Lankrink, Prosper Henricus
Largillière, Nicolas de
Mele, Matthias de
Sadler, Thomas
Tilson, Henry
Wissing, Willem
Followed by This field mentions the artist’s emulators. Although students can naturally also be followers, they are not mentioned again here. What is meant by followers are those who continue to work in the spirit of a predecessor. Sometimes this may happen a century later; there is no time limit. What is at issue, however, is that someone’s oeuvre must substantially follow in the manner of the artist emulated.: Tompson, Richard
Influenced by In contrast with ‘follower of’, we speak of ‘influenced by’ when an artist was influenced outside the context of an educational setting or servile following. An artist can be influenced by several artists at once, or in succession. In addition, there may be question of a transition to a personal style which may demonstrate development.: Dyck, Anthony van
Influence on This field specifies the artists influenced by the artist in question, without there being question of an educational setting or servile following.: Beale, Mary
Hawker, Thomas
Kneller, Gottfried
Scougall, David
Sonnius, Hendrik
Thrumpton, Thomas

Subjects This field specifies the various subject categories or genres that constitute the oeuvre of the artist in question. The contents of this field are generally based more on the documentation available at the RKD than on the literature.: portrait

Medium/technique: oil paint

Literature

Literature in RKDLibrary: 13 hits in RKDlibrary as subject

Houbraken 1718-1721 , vol. 2 (1719), p. 41-49, 131, 192, 297, 306; vol. 3 (1721), p. 234-235, 361
Kramm 1857-1864 , vol. 2 (1858), p. 473 (as: Pieter van der Faes)
Walpole et al. 1762/1876 (ed. Wornum) , vol. 1 (1876), p. 54, 142, 145, 169, 271, 296, 322, 325, 330, 334, 340
Von Wurzbach 1906-1911 , vol. 2 (1910), p. 24-26
Collins Baker 1912 , vol.1, p. 138-176; vol. 2, p. 122-149
Nisser 1927 , passim
Thieme/Becker 1907-1950 , vol. 13 (1929), p. 13
Gerson 1942/1983 , passim
Hollstein et al. 1949-2010 , vol. 10 [1953], p. 47-51
Waterhouse 1953 , p. 62-67
Bénézit 1976 , vol. 6, p. 559
Witt Checklist 1978 , p. 173
Miedema 1980 , vol. 2, p. 456
Kirby Talley 1981
Howarth (ed.) 1993 , p. 107-131 (A. Laing. 'Sir Peter Lely and Sir Ralph Banks')
Turner et al. 1996 (Oliver Millar, Diana Dethloff and Lin Barton)
Stewart/Cutten 1997 , p. 302-303
Kollmann 2000 , p. 232-234
MacLeod/Alexander et al. 2001 , C. MacLeod, ‘ “Good, but not like”: Peter Lely, portrait practice and the creation of a court look’, p. 50–61 and passim
Baker/Elam/Warwick 2003 , D. Dethloff, 'Sir Peter Lely's collection of prints and drawings', p. 123-39
Curd 2010 , p. 99-126
Campbell et al. 2012 , K. Hearn, 'Lely and Holland', p. 27-39
Stourton/Sebag-Montefiore 2012 , p. 75-77
Saur 1992- , vol. 84 (2015), p. 48 (as: Peter lely)
Murray 2017 , passim
Horn/Van Leeuwen 2021 [Houbraken Translated]

R. Graham, ‘A Short account of the most Eminent Painters both Ancient and Modern’, in C. du Fresnoy, De arte graphica/The Art of Painting, transl. J. Dryden, London 1695, p. 229–349, esp. p. 343–344
B. Buckeridge, ‘An Essay towards an English School of Painters’, in R. de Piles, The art of painting, and the lives of the painters ... Done from the French of Monsieur de Piles [by John Savage]. To which is added, An essay towards an English-School, London 1706, p. 398-480, esp. p. 444-447
B. Buckeridge, ‘An Essay towards an English School of Painters’, in R. de Piles, The Art of Painting, with the lives and characters of above 300 of the most eminent painters: containing a complete treatise of painting, designing, and the use of prints, with reflections on the works of the most celebrated masters, and of several Schools of Europe, as well ancient as modern. Being the most perfect work of the kind extant. transl. from the French of De Piles. To which is added, an essay towards an English school, London [1754] 3rd edn.; 1706 1st edn, p. 354-439, esp. p. 402-404
A. Bredius, 'Drie weinig bekende kunstenaars', Oud Holland 2 (1884), p. 215-220, esp. p. 219-220, under Abraham Uylenborgh
A. Lee, Viscount of Fareham, ‘Lely’s Love Story‘, The Burlington Magazine 60 (1932), p. 145–150
Editorial (with help of Dr. Otto Kurz), 'Sir Peter Lely's Collection', The Burlington Magazine 83 (1943), p. 185-191
H. and M. Ogden, 'Sir Peter Lely's Collection: Further Notes, The Burlington Magazine 84 (1944), p. 154
J. A. C. Ab. Wittenaar, 'De geboorteplaats en de naam van Peter Lely. Nieuwe documenten', Oud-Holland 67 (1952), p. 122-124
P. Hulton, 'Sir Peter Lely: Portrait Drawings of his Family', Connoisseur 154 (1963), p. 166-170
M. Kirby Talley, 'Extracts from the Executors Account-Book of Sir Peter Lely, 1679-1691: An Account of the Contents of Sir Peter's Studio', The Burlington Magazine 120 (1978), p. 745-749
E. Benkó, 'Sur un ''portrait de femme'' par Godfrey Kneller', Bulletin de Musée hongrois des Beaux-Arts 55 (1980), p. 47-65
R. C. C. de Savornin Lohman, 'Heeft de Engelse hofschilder Sir Peter Lely (alias Pieter van der Faes) in zijn jeugd te Deventer bij zijn ouders gewoond?', De Nederlandsche Leeuw 99 (1982), p. 283-286
J. Foucart, 'Peter Lely, Dutch History Painter', Mercury (1989), no. 8, p. 17-26
D. Dethloff, 'The Executor's account book and the dispersal of Sir Peter Lely's collection', Journal of the History of Collections 8 (1996), p. 15-52
F. Lammertse, 'Sir Peter Lely' [biographical part], in: A. Blankert et al., Hollands Classicisme in de zeventiende-eeuwse schilderkunst, Rotterdam/Frankfurt am Main 1999, p. 228-231
B. Henderson, Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680) Dutch Classicist, English Portraitist, and Collector (diss. Manchester University), 2001
J. Marciari Alexander, 'A Dutch "stranger ... on the make": Sir Peter Lely and the critical fortunes of a foreign painter', in: R. Vigne and Ch. Littleton (eds.), From Strangers to Citizens : The Integration of immigrant Commnunities in Britain, Ireland and Colonial America, 1500-1740, London 2001, p. 127-132
M. Wenzel, 'The Windsor Beauties by Sir Peter Lely and the collection of paintings at St James's Palace, 1674', Journal of the History of Collections 14 (2002), p. 205-213
M. Keblusek, 'Cultural and political brokerage in seventeenth-century England: the case of Balthazar Gerbier', Leids Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 13 (2003), p. 73-82
D. Dethloff in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004/2009)
F. Harris, 'An Ambivalent Image: Lely's Double-Portrait of Charles I and the Duke of York', The Burlington Magazine 149 (2007), p. 180-182
D. Dethloff, 'The P.L. stamp: Peter Lely's collection of drawings', in: Sixièmes Rencontres Internationales du Salon du Dessin. Les Marques de Collections II, Paris 2011, p. 35-53
F. Lammertse, review exhibition London (Courtauld Gallery) 2012-2013, The Burlington Magazine 155 (2013), p. 188-189
R. Dekker, 'Hoe Constantijn Huygens Jr. 128 tekeningen van Leonardo da Vinci kocht', Mededelingen van de Stichting Jacob Campo Weyerman 36 (2013), no. 1, p. 50-60
S. Karst, 'Off to a new Cockaigne: Dutch migrant artists in London, 1660-1715', Simiolus 37 (2013-2014), no. 1, p. 25-60
J. Loxley, 'Poetry, portraiture and praise: Suckling and Van Dyck, Lovelace and Lely', The Seventeenth Century 32 (2017) no. 4, p. 351-369

Documentation RKD

This field specifies the location of the various RKD documentation materials. Most of the locations refer to our art-historical image documentation. In addition, you will find references to press documentation (clippings and short articles) here.

Project: Gerson Digital : Germany
Gerson Digital : United Kingdom
Marques de Collections (F. Lugt)

External links: Lugt (Marques de Collections) no. L.1734
Lugt (Marques de Collections) no. L.2092
Lugt (Marques de Collections) no. L.2093
Lugt (Marques de Collections) no. L.2094
this artist in Ecartico

Permalink: https://rkd.nl/explore/artists/49235

Creation date: 1992-02-07; Last modified date: 2023-05-16

Explore

Peter Lely

Comments

My selections