WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Peter Lely

Peter Lely

1618–1680

WA-00019352

Painting

Representation

None documented

Institutional Exhibitions

Works in Collection

Assets Indexed

Authority-backed Facts

Publications Referenced

80%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (1)

WikidataQ161336

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

View all exhibitions →

No image

The Taste of a Connoisseur: The Paul J. Sachs Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1966–1967

Field Verification (3 fields)

1 cross-verified · 2 single-source

Birth yearArtsy· 92%✓
NationalityWikidata + Artsy· 92%
LocationWikidata· 80%

Source Registry (1)

Wikidata
Tier 1 · Institutional40%

About

Why this artist matters now

Sir Peter Lely was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. He became a naturalised English subject and was knighted in 1680 by King Charles II.

Source: Wikidata · Trust score: 40% · Updated 2mo ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

—

Medium

Painting

Related Artists

6 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Rijksmuseum The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cleveland Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago

Canonical record

Artworks (15)

Study for a Portrait of a Woman

1670 · Oil on canvas

26 1/2 x 21 1/8 in. (67.3 x 53.7 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Barbara Villiers (1640–1709), Duchess of Cleveland

1670 · Oil on canvas

89 x 54 in. (226.1 x 137.2 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Study of the Forearms and Hands of a Woman

1665 · Black chalk with touches of red, heightened with white, on buff paper.

11 9/16 x 7 13/16 in. (29.4 x 19.9 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ridder van de Orde van de Kousenband

1663 · chalk, paper, graphite (mineral), charcoal stick

height: 508 cm, width: 302 cm

Rijksmuseum

A Knight of the Order of the Garter

1663 · Black and white chalk, gray pastel, on blue-gray paper

Sheet: 17 3/8 × 13 1/8 in. (44.1 × 33.4 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Onderwapenheraut van de Orde van de Kousenband

1663 · chalk, paper

width: 204 cm, height: 498 cm

Rijksmuseum

Portret van een onbekende vrouw

1658 · paper, chalk

height: 265 cm, width: 200 cm

Rijksmuseum

Portrait of Mrs. Leneve

1657 · oil paint

Framed: 157.5 x 132.5 x 13 cm (62 x 52 3/16 x 5 1/8 in.); Unframed: 126.7 x 101.3 cm (49 7/8 x 39 7/8 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Sir Henry Capel (1638–1696)

1654 · Oil on canvas

49 3/4 x 40 1/2 in. (126.4 x 102.9 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mary Capel (1630–1715), Later Duchess of Beaufort, and Her Sister Elizabeth (1633–1678), Countess of Carnarvon

1652 · Oil on canvas

51 1/4 x 67 in. (130.2 x 170.2 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

John, Son of First Duke of Lennon

1638 · Pen and brown ink, with brush and gray wash, heightened with white gouache, over graphite, on tan laid paper, tipped on ivory laid paper

8.9 × 6.6 cm (3 9/16 × 2 5/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Head of Young Woman

1638 · Pen and brown ink, on tan laid paper, laid down on tan laid paper

6.3 × 5.2 cm (2 1/2 × 2 1/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

General Monk

1638 · Pen and brown ink, with brush and brown wash, over graphite, on cream laid paper

9.5 × 7.7 cm (3 3/4 × 3 1/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

First Lord Russell

1638 · Pen and brown ink, with brush and brown wash, heightened with touches of white gouache, over graphite, on tan laid paper, tipped on cream laid paper

9.6 × 7.4 cm (3 13/16 × 2 15/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Studies of Hands

1630 · Red, black, and white chalk

sheet: 11 1/2 x 7 9/16 in. (29.2 x 19.2 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

View all 15 artworks →

Artwork sources (5)

15 published of 66 catalogued · 66 with image

The Met
7 published7 img
Art Institute Chicago
4 published4 img
Rijksmuseum
3 published3 img
Cleveland Museum of Art
1 published1 img
+ 1 more source · 51 catalogued, not yet published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 4)

9 entries · 2 sources

Portrait of Mrs. Leneve
1657 · Cleveland · 6 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_numberWikidata·titleWikidata·mediumWikidata·year_createdWikidata·primary_image_urlWikidata·artwork_type
Ridder van de Orde van de Kousenband
1663 · Rijksmuseum · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Onderwapenheraut van de Orde van de Kousenband
1663 · Rijksmuseum · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Portret van een onbekende vrouw
1658 · Rijksmuseum · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

11 assets

Artsy

Smithsonian Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Art Institute of Chicago

Ortensia Mancini, Duchess of Mazarin (1678)

Art Institute of Chicago

Art Institute of Chicago

Portrait of Nell Gwyn as a Shedherdess Garlanding a Lamb (c. 1678)

Art Institute of Chicago

Art Institute of Chicago

View all 11 media items →

Relationships

Collections5

Rijksmuseum The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cleveland Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago Christie's

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Rijksmuseum

In collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Market

Auction sale history

Houses that have sold works by this artist at auction

Auction house

Christie's

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

Group Exhibition The Taste of a Connoisseur: The Paul J. Sachs Collection

New York · 1966