The Windsor Beauties are a set of portrait paintings, still in the Royal Collection, by Sir Peter Lely and his workshop, produced in the early to mid-1660s, that depict ladies of the court of King Charles II, some of whom were his mistresses.[1][2] The name stems from the original location of the collection, which was at Windsor Castle. In 2022, they were on display at Hampton Court Palace.
A set of copies was commissioned by Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland in the 17th century for his collection at Althorp House, and the complete set can still be viewed there in the Picture Gallery, a room he created to show off his adoration for art.[3]
- ^ Jones, Robert W (1998). Gender and the Formation of Taste in Eighteenth-Century Britain: The Analysis of Beauty. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521593267. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- ^ Hamilton, Adrian (16 April 2012). "Carry on, your majesty: Charles II and his court ladies". The Independent. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- ^ Spencer, Charles, Althorp: The Story of an English House.