An engraving of Barbara, Countess of Castlemaine, after a portrait by Sir Peter Lely: half length, seated, full face, with her head to the right supported by her left hand. She has long hair, and wears pearl jewellery. Her plain bodice is cut low. Set against a background of drapery, and surrounded by a fictive frame of laurel leaves.

This is the first dated print of Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine, after a painting by Sir Peter Lely, which may have been painted for Charles II and almost certainly made specific reference to Guido Reni's Penitent Magdalen, in both the sitter's pose and her long, flowing tresses. Samuel Pepys, who was enthralled by Lady Castlemaine's beauty, purchased three impressions of the engraving directly from Faithorne. This impression is actually a collage of two presumably damaged sheets: the portrait itself and half of the laurel-wreath frame have been cut out of one impression and pasted to the back of another impression, with some areas of the border retouched in pen and ink.

Text adapted from Charles II: Art & Power, London, 2017