Coloured chalks with a few touches of gouache. 24.1cm by 19.1cm.
Head and shoulders with pearls in her hair. Inscribed l.l: ..arbara/..lliers/..uchess of/
Barbara Villiers (1640-1709) was a noted beauty whose marriage prospects were blighted by her family’s lack of fortune, dissipated during the English Civil War.
She married Roger Palmer, later created 1st Earl of Castlemaine, against his family’s wishes, and within a year had become the mistress of the restored King, Charles II, who created her Duchess of Cleveland.
