A fine, large and richly coloured 17th century English portrait of an elegant beauty from an artist in the circle of Sir Peter Lely.The as yet unknown sitter is pictured three quarter length within an extensive landscape wearing a gold robe and white chemise. She sits beside a flower filled urn under the shade of an oak tree. This stone urn contains both roses and lilies, and in the language of flowers, roses are the emblem of Venus whilst lilies denote purity.The way in which the sitters sumptuous dress drifts into drapery places this portrait in the late seventeenth century tradition of the portraiture of Sir Peter Lely, who in turn was drawing on the tradition established in the 1630s by Sir Anthony Van Dyck at the court of Charles I. These artists favoured an innovative way of dispensing with the details of real dress to show a generalised draped clothing that relies on large sleeves and shimmering silk skirts for its appeal. When Lely died his inventory listed stud...