Nell Gwyn
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Nell Gwyn
by Valentine Green, published by Walter Shropshire, after Sir Peter Lely
mezzotint, published 17 November 1777
9 7/8 in. x 7 1/2 in. (252 mm x 192 mm) plate size; 12 5/8 in. x 8 1/2 in. (320 mm x 216 mm) paper size
Given by the daughter of compiler William Fleming MD, Mary Elizabeth Stopford (née Fleming), 1931
Reference Collection
NPG D30625
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.
- Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680), Portrait painter. Artist or producer associated with 843 portraits, Sitter in 19 portraits.
- Walter Shropshire (died 1785), Publisher. Artist or producer associated with 18 portraits.
Subjects & Themesback 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.Comments back to top
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