Oil on canvas,120.6cm by 94cm. A pair to PIC0390
Inscribed with the identity of the sitter.
The 1688 Burghley Inventory records: ‘The Marble Salloon Roome 2 My Lords picture my Ladys picture, by Sr Peter Lilly.’
John, 5th Earl of Exeter (1648-1700) was married to Anne Cavendish, the only daughter of the 3rd Earl and Countess of Devonshire who brought to Burghley a great fortune.
When he inherited the title in 1678, he greatly altered the Elizabethan interiors of Burghley.
He also soon began the first of four Grand Tours to the Continent, on at least two of which he was accompanied by his wife.
Together, they amassed a vast collection of contemporary paintings and other works of art.
