Oil on canvas, 102.9cm by 96.5cm.
The 4th Earl of Pembroke was a patron of the arts and a noted collector.
He was a favourite of James I and initially, also of Charles I, but during the English Civil War, his sympathies were with the Parliamentarians.
The portrait was part of a substantial bequest from Elizabeth, Countess of Devonshire (1619-1689), herself a noted collector, to her daughter Anne, Countess of Exeter (1649-1703).
The bequest was recorded in an inventory known as the Devonshire Schedule, or Deed of Gift, which lists: ‘A picture of the late Earle of pembroke in a Guilt fframe.’
The Dutch-born artist arrived in England in 1641 and after the death of Sir Anthony van Dyck later that year, Lely succeeded him as the most fashionable portrait painter in England.
