Windsor Beauties

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)

The Windsor beauties are a famous collection of paintings by Sir Peter Lely, painted in the early to mid 1660s. They were originally housed in the Queens bedchamber in Windsor Castle (hence the name Windsor Beauties). They can now be seen at Hampton Court Palace.

The original set of "Beauties" painted by Lely were eleven in number (although ten are frequently quoted), and were as follows.

• Barbara, Duchess of Cleveland (née Villiers)
• Frances, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox (née Stuart)
• Mrs. Jane Myddleton (née Needham)
• Elizabeth, Countess of Northumberland (née Wriothesley)
• Elizabeth, Countess of Falmouth (née Bagot)
• Elizabeth, Lady Denham (née Brooke)
• Frances, Lady Whitmore (née Brooke)
• Henrietta, Countess of Rochester (née Boyle)
• Elizabeth, Countess de Grammont (née Hamilton)
• Madame d'Orleans.

Anne Hyde, Duchess of York, does not figure in the above list of ten; but since she was largely responsible for the collection (and choosing the sitters), she was also portraited as part of the collection. Possibly a little flattery from Lely was responsible for this.

[edit] See also

• Hampton Court Beauties, a later set by Sir Godfrey Kneller.