Read the visual description
This painting is a portrait of a woman. She is seated and facing slightly to the left, with her hands in her lap. She has fair skin, blue eyes, a soft chin, dark curly hair, and pink lips in a neutral expression. She is wearing a golden-brown gown with voluminous sleeves, a low neckline, and pearl accents. She is also adorned with a pearl necklace, earrings, and a bracelet, with more pearls in her long hair. In one hand she is holding white flowers. The background is a warm, dark-toned interior with some red drapery visible on the left.
National Gallery of Art · Painting
Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland
Probably chiefly studio of Sir Peter Lely
- Date
- c. 1661-1665
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- overall: 126.1 x 101.5 cm (49 5/8 x 39 15/16 in.) framed: 152.4 x 127.3 cm (60 x 50 1/8 in.)
- Classification
- Painting
- Accession number
- 1960.6.26
- Credit line
- Timken Collection
- Time span
- 1651 to 1700
- Department
- CAB
Subjects and terms
- painted surface
- British
- female
- portrait
- British Paintings of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries
- Villiers, Barbara, Duchess of Cleveland
Provenance
Bethell Walrond, Dulford House, Devon; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 12-13 July 1878, 2nd day, no. 156); (Algernon Graves). Sir Henry-Hope Edwardes, 10th Bt., Wootton Hall, Ashbourne, Derbyshire; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 27 April 1901, no. 11); Martin H. Colnaghi [d. 1908], London; sold 1908 to (Thos. Agnew & Sons, London), in joint account with (Wallis & Son, London); sold 1909 to (Scott & Fowles, New York).[1] Frank Bulkeley Smith [1864-1918], Worcester, Massachusetts; (his estate sale, American Art Association, New York, 22-23 April 1920, 2nd day, no. 109); bought by Otto Bernet, probably as an agent for William R. Timken [1866-1949], New York; by inheritance to his widow, Lillian Guyer Timken [1881-1959], New York; bequest 1960 to NGA. [1] Thos. Agnew & Sons stock books, recorded by The Provenance Index, J. Paul Getty Trust, Santa Monica, California.
NGA object ID 46050. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.