Portrait of Mrs. Leneve

c. 1657

This object has related works. See

Peter Lely

(British, 1618–1680)

Culture

England, 17th century

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

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.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Otto Miller 1942.247

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Location

203A British Painting and Decorative Arts

Did You Know?

Long, slender fingers signified aristocratic elegance when this portrait was painted.

Description

This woman’s heavily lidded eyes, fleshy chin, and slender fingers conform to 17th-century ideals of beauty, but when the museum acquired this painting in 1942, her features had been extensively overpainted to bring her more in line with modern standards of beauty. This later intervention included lowering the sitter’s eyebrows, reducing her prominent eyes and lips, and adding curls to make her forehead appear smaller. Mrs. Leneve now appears as the fashionable artist Peter Lely originally intended.