Portrait of Sir George Palmes C.1670: Circle of Sir Peter Lely.

Oil on canvas in gilded oakleaf frame.

The sitter, depicted with a feigned stone oval, wears a faux Roman military tunic beneath his cloak; this was called 'elevating the sitter' and was intended to give the portrait a timeless Classical quality, as was his silk drape....this despite his fashionable full wig and cravat! Lely, and others, used this motif on many occasions.

The PALMES family of Naburn Hall, York, and the cadet branches of Lindley Hall, North Yorkshire; Ashwell, Rutland; and Carcraig in Ireland, are an ancient English aristocratic family, noted for their adherence to Catholicism. The Palmes family of Naburn are directly descended from Mary Boleyn and her daughter, Catherine, who is generally believed to have been the daughter of Henry VIII of England while Mary was his mistress. Mary's sister, Anne Boleyn, afterwards became the second wife of Henry VIII and the mother of Elizabeth I of England:

The family were originally seated at Taunton Deane, Somerset, where Manfred de Palma/Palmes had by the "Gift of Milo Earl of Hereford & Constable of England, 53 Oxgangs of Land and 25 Messages in the Lordship of Taunton Dean". Manfred was "known to be living in the sixth year of the reign of King Stephen, 1140 AD".

The Palmes family of Naburn can trace its ancestry through a maternal line to Robert de Todeni (died 1088), a powerful Norman baron. Todeni's importance is reflected by the 80 estates in 11 counties that he was granted by William across England. His principal Lordship was at Belvoir where he built his home, Belvoir Castle, before establishing Belvoir Priory in 1076. Among Todeni's many estates was Naburn. In 1226, William Palmes of Taunton acquired the Lordship of Naburn through his marriage to Matilda, daughter or sister of Richard de Watterville; a direct descendant of Robert de Todeni from whom the land had passed to the Wattervilles. From then on, the estate continued to descend uninterrupted from father to son within the Palmes family until 1974, on the death of Commander George Bryan Palmes. The Palmes family were said to have been "unique in being able to boast an unbroken heritage". Edmund Burke described the family as "one of serious antiquity".

SIR PETER LELY (1618 - 1680) was the most important portraitist in the reign of Charles ll, although he had painted portraits throughout the Commonwealth. Principal Painter to the King, he painted everyone of importance, maintaining a busy and active Studio to help with the huge demand for his portraits. Members of his Circle, and his Followers, many of them talented artists in their own right, emulated his style to supply this constant market.

SIZE: 37.25 x 32.25 inches inc. frame.

PROVENANCE: By descent through the Palmes family to a branch now resident in Kent.