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1 of 253523 objects
Willem Wissing (1656-87)
Mrs Lawson c. 1680-85
Oil on canvas | 125.0 x 104.0 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 402580
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Wissing was a Dutch artist who came to London in 1676, studied with Sir Peter Lely and effectively took over the business for the seven years between Lely’s death in 1680 and his own in 1687 (aged only thirty one). All the works by Wissing in the Royal Collection date for this period.
This is one of three portraits of 'court beauties' (OM 326-8, 402580, 402573 and 402575) which may have been painted in 1680-5 for Mary II, while she was in Holland as Princess of Orange. They first appear in inventories in the reign of Queen Anne. The sitter may be the 'Lawson' mentioned as a mistress of Charles II in 1681.
Signed: W. Wissing fec.'Provenance
Probably painted for Mary II as part of the set of 'Windsor Beauties'; recorded with that set in the Little Dining Room at Windsor Castle in 1720; they remained in this space, which was renamed the Queen's State Bedchamber; this is where they appear in Pyne's illustrate Royal Residences of 1819 (RCIN 922103).
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Creator(s)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
125.0 x 104.0 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
143.0 x 122.1 x 8.0 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)
