Nell Gwyn

1 portrait of Nell Gwyn

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Nell Gwyn

by Valentine Green, published by Walter Shropshire, after Simon Verelst
mezzotint, published 17 November 1777
10 in. x 7 1/2 in. (253 mm x 189 mm) plate size; 14 1/8 in. x 10 7/8 in. (360 mm x 275 mm) paper size
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D2515

Sitterback to top

  • Eleanor ('Nell') Gwyn (1651?-1687), Actress; mistress of Charles II. Sitter associated with 31 portraits.

Artistsback to top

  • Valentine Green (1739-1813), Mezzotint engraver. Artist or producer associated with 149 portraits, Sitter in 3 portraits.
  • Walter Shropshire (died 1785), Publisher. Artist or producer associated with 18 portraits.
  • Simon Verelst (1644-circa 1710), Artist. Artist or producer associated with 7 portraits.

Placesback to top

Events of 1777back to top

Current affairs

Trent and Mersey Canal is completed under the supervision of engineer James Brindley.
Philanthropist and reformer John Howard publishes his study The State of the Prisons in England and Wales.

Art and science

Artist James Barry begins his monumental series of paintings The Progress of Human Culture for the Great Room of the Society of Arts in London. He completes it in 1783.
Richard Brinsley Sheridan's second play, The School for Scandal, is an immediate success in London's Drury Lane Theatre.
Entrepreneur William Bass establishes the Bass Brewery at Burton upon Trent.

International

American War of Independence: George Washington, heavily defeated at the Battle of Brandywine, is forced to relinquish Philadelphia to the British under General William Howe. At the two Battles of Saratoga only weeks later General John Burgoyne is forced to surrender to the Americans, marking a turning point in the war. The Continental Congress agrees the final version of the Articles of Confederation, defining the terms on which states join the Union.

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Matthew Schweitzer

06 December 2019, 12:20

This engraving attributes the original painting upon which this portrait is based to Sir Peter Lely. However it is listed as attributed to Simon Verelst. I am aware that what appears to be the original painted portrait for this engraving was recently rediscovered and exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in 2011. That painting was also attributed to Simon Verelst. So did the original print maker misattributed the original portrait to Lely instead of Verelst?