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Nell Gwyn

16 of 30 portraits of Nell Gwyn

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Nell Gwyn

by John Ogborne, published by Anthony Molteno, after Sir Peter Lely
stipple engraving, published 2 January 1802
9 3/4 in. x 7 3/4 in. (248 mm x 196 mm) plate size
Given by the daughter of compiler William Fleming MD, Mary Elizabeth Stopford (née Fleming), 1931
Reference Collection
NPG D30624

Sitterback to top

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

Artistsback to top

  • Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680), Portrait painter. Artist associated with 843 portraits, Sitter in 19 portraits.
  • Anthony Molteno (active 1783-1830), Printseller and bookseller. Artist associated with 22 portraits.
  • John Ogborne (1755-1837). Artist associated with 20 portraits.

Placesback to top

Portrait setback to top

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1802back to top

Current affairs

After returning from Naples, Nelson tours England with the diplomat and antiquarian Sir William Hamilton and his wife Emma, with whom he was having an affair. With Nelson's status confirmed as a national hero, their reception outrivals that of the King.
Extensive strikes in government shipyards led by John Gast.

Art and science

Francis Jeffrey, MP and arbiter of literary taste, co-founds the Edinburgh Review, the influential Whig quarterly which voiced strong criticism of Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey.
The Exchange, where stocks were traded, is rebuilt to cope with an increase in business during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

International

Peace of Amiens; Britain finally agrees to unpopular peace, leaving France the chief power in Europe and returning recent British colonial acquisitions.
Napoleon is declared First Consul of the French Empire for life.
English flock to see the international war plunder now on display at the Louvre in Paris.

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