December’s Artwork of the Month talk will be given by Susannah Lyon-Whaley.

Between Beauty and Empire: Rethinking Lely’s Unidentified Child and Charlotte Fitzroy

In the early 1670s, court artist Peter Lely painted King Charles II’s young and eligible daughter, Charlotte. This talk draws attention to the other sitter in the painting – the young page who offers her a bowl of fruit. The dark-skinned child proffering luxury items – fruit, shells, or flowers – to young beauties in Restoration portraiture spotlights his own status as exotic object. Portraits like these have provoked discussion and controversy in modern galleries. Yet amongst the portrait’s blush-coloured silks, pearls, and hothouse oranges, lies the potential to excavate the ‘unidentified child’ and, as I will discuss, highlight his and Charlotte’s interconnected realities.

Members are reminded to bring their membership card for free admission to the Gallery.