2 OF 30

Unknown woman, formerly known as Nell Gwyn

2 of 30 portraits of Nell Gwyn

studio of Sir Peter Lely
oil on canvas, circa 1675
50 in. x 40 in. (1270 mm x 1016 mm)
Purchased, 1956
Primary Collection
NPG 3976

Sitterback to top

Eleanor ('Nell') Gwyn (1651?-1687), Actress; mistress of Charles II. Sitter associated with 30 portraits.

Artistback to top

Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680), Portrait painter. Artist or producer associated with 843 portraits, Sitter in 19 portraits.

This portraitback to top

The pose of the sitter, with a lamb, was a standard pattern used by Lely and his studio in a number of portraits of different women.

Related worksback to top

NPG D10959: Nell Gwyn (source portrait)

Linked publicationsback to top

Foskett, Daphne, Samuel Cooper, 1974 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 15 March - 15 June 1974), p. 128
Ollard, Richard, Pepys and his Contemporaries, 2015, p. 89
Perry, Gill (introduction) Roach, Joseph (appreciation) and West, Shearer (appreciation), The First Actresses: Nell Gwyn to Sarah Siddons, 2011 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 20 October 2011 to 8 January 2012), p. 74
Piper, David, The English Face, 1992, p. 99
Piper, David, Catalogue of Seventeenth Century Portraits in the National Portrait Gallery, 1625-1714, 1963, p. 148
Ribeiro, Aileen; Blackman, Cally, A Portrait of Fashion: Six Centuries of Dress at the National Portrait Gallery, 2015, p. 102
Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 269

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1675back to top

Current affairs

James Scott, Duke of Monmouth oversees the suppression of the London weavers' riots which break out in the East End against the introduction of mechanised silk looms.
The great fire of Northampton quickly destroys the city. Charles II donates timber for its reconstruction.

Art and science

Charles II founds the Royal Observatory in Greenwich and appoints John Flamsteed the first Astronomer Royal.
Royal approval is given to the 'Warrant' design, Sir Christopher Wren's design for the rebuilding of St. Paul's Cathedral devastated by the Great Fire (1666).

International

A naval campaign into the Mediterranean under the command of Sir John Narbrough, with protégé, Cloudesley Shovell as lieutenant, blockades the port of Tripoli and successfully halts persistent attacks on English merchant ships by North African pirates. A peace treaty is signed with Tripoli in 1676.

Tell us more back to top

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