Pieter van der Faes, known as Peter Lely, was born in 1618 in Soest, Westphalia, into a Dutch family, and died in London in 1680. Trained in Haarlem, probably in Pieter de Grebber's entourage, he arrived in England in the early 1640s. His first ambitions concerned history painting, mythology and landscape, but portraiture quickly took hold. Lely worked during the Civil War and the Interregnum, then became Principal Painter to King Charles II at the Restoration. His studio responded to an immense demand: sovereigns, courtiers, officers and great ladies wanted an image that combined resemblance, rank and seduction. The painter established the head and hands, while assistants can develop costumes, draperies and rehearsals. Charles II of England unites royal presence and aristocratic casualness. The portraits of Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland and favorite of the king, display satin fabrics, luminous skin tones and supple hair. The probable Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington, offers a more restrained version of this worldly authority. The probable Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington, offers a more restrained version of this worldly authority. A passionate collector of paintings and drawings, Lely brought together a renowned firm. He is naturalized English, knighted in the year of his death and remains the artist who fixed the official and intimate image of the Restoration court. The "Peter Lely" selection puts particularly in relation to Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland and Portrait of a Man, probably Richard Boyle. His reading favors space.
Lely gives the resemblance the rhythm of the court: the look affirms the rank, the drapery stages the body and the light transforms the fabric into prestige.