John, Son of First Duke of Lennon

Sir Peter Lely · n.d.

Medium

Pen and brown ink, with brush and gray wash, heightened with white gouache, over graphite, on tan laid paper, tipped on ivory laid paper

Original size

8.9 × 6.6 cm (3 9/16 × 2 5/8 in.)

Currently held

Art Institute of Chicago

Movement

Baroque

This intimate portrait study captures the quiet dignity of a young aristocrat with the assured draftsmanship that made Sir Peter Lely the defining face of Restoration England. Born in Westphalia in 1618, Lely arrived in England during the reign of Charles I and became Principal Painter to Charles II in 1661, shaping how the English court wanted to be seen for a generation. This work — executed in pen and brown ink with gray wash and white gouache over graphite on laid paper — reveals a side of Lely less familiar than his grand oil portraits: the working hand of a portraitist thinking through form before committing to canvas. The layered technique, building from graphite underdrawing through ink and wash to white highlights, gives the sitter a sculptural presence despite the modest scale. Lely amassed one of the largest private art collections in seventeenth-century England, reflecting a connoisseurship that informed the sophistication visible even in his preparatory works. The Art Institute of Chicago holds this sheet as a rare example of his draughtsmanship outside the painted tradition. Our hand-painted oil reproduction translates the tonal subtlety and refined line of the original into a medium that honours both Lely's craftsmanship and the lasting presence of its subject.