Portrait of Charles II (1630-1685)

Dateca. 1670

Studio of Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680)

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 67 5/8" x 44 5/8"; framed: 76 1/4" x 53 1/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1936-377

DescriptionA three-quarter length portrait of a man, seated, his upper body turned to the left. He has long dark curly hair and a thin dark moustache. He is sumptuously attired in velvet robes and a white shirt with ruffled cuffs. He looks off to the viewer's left and gestures in that direction with his proper right hand, his other hand resting loosely in his lap. Drapery fills the upper corners of the composition.

The frame is not original to the painting but was acquired, separately, specifically for this picture, from H. J. Spiller, London, 14 August 1936.
Label TextMultiples of both three-quarter and full-length portraits of Charles II and Catherine of Braganza were created in Lely's studio over a number of years. The heads in Colonial Williamsburg's pair derive from studies begun by Lely soon after the royal couple's marriage in 1662. Some of Lely's representations of Catherine show her in state robes and thus are considered official portraits. Somewhat oddly, no entirely corresponding images of the King are known; Charles II was only painted in state robes later, by Sir Godfrey Kneller, after Lely's death.
Frequently, those appointed to govern England's colonies brought with them portraits of reigning (and, sometimes, preceding) monarchs to be displayed in their colonial residences. After John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore and governor of Virginia, fled the colony in 1775, he claimed that he lost thereby "a number of Valuable Pictures by Sir Peter Lely." Exactly what those paintings were is a matter of conjecture, but they well may have included representations similar to Colonial Williamsburg's portraits of Charles II and Catherine of Braganza.
Charles II reigned from 1660 to 1685, returning to London from exile in the Netherlands to assume the throne. During the previous eleven years, England had been ruled by Puritan commoner Oliver Cromwell, who was succeeded by his son Richard. With Charles's accession came the restoration of the monarchy, so the period of his reign is known as the Restoration. Charles's interest in scientific investigation led to his patronage of a group of gentleman scientists, which became known as the Royal Society.
ProvenanceOwnership prior to Hotspur (see "Vendor") is unknown.