Sir Peter Lely
1618 - 1680
The Dutch artist Peter Lely was trained in Haarlem and came to London in the 1640s. In the early part of his career, he painted Biblical and mythological scenes, but it was as a portraitist that he established his reputation, and he worked throughout the civil wars and Interregnum. At the Restoration he was appointed Principal Painter to King Charles II and he was knighted in 1680. By far the most fashionable and influential painter of his time, he also formed a celebrated collection of paintings and drawings. Samuel Pepys called him 'a mighty proud man, and full of state'.
Text © National Portrait Gallery, London
