Barbara Palmer (née Villiers), Duchess of Cleveland with her son, probably Charles FitzRoy, as the Virgin and Child
- Artist: Sir Peter Lely
- Date: circa 1664
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 49 in. x 40 1/8 in. (1247 mm x 1020 mm) overall
- Portrays: Charles FitzRoy, Duke of Cleveland, Barbara Palmer (née Villiers), Duchess of Cleveland
- Museum: The National Portrait Gallery
- Collection record: The National Portrait Gallery website
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About this artwork
Oil on canvas by Sir Peter Lely, circa 1664. In this portrait the Duchess of Cleveland, Barbara Villiers, holds a small child who looks up at her with gentle eyes. She wears a flowing white dress trimmed in gold; the soft folds catch the light just so. The child’s head is tucked into his mother’s lap and he is painted with a cherubic smile that echoes Lely’s earlier religious figures.
Lely, King Charles II’s Principal Painter, was known for capturing what later critics described as “languishing” or sleepy eyes. He used those same features here, making her look like an idealised Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child—an audacious move in Restoration England. It also shows how Villiers’s influence at court made Lely’s work a vehicle of status.
The painting now sits in the National Portrait Gallery.
See it in person
Barbara Palmer (née Villiers), Duchess of Cleveland with her son, probably Charles FitzRoy, as the Virgin and Child is in the collection of The National Portrait Gallery at St Martin's Place, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
