Windsor Beauties


The Windsor Beauties are a famous collection of paintings by Sir Peter Lely, painted in the early to mid-1660s, that depict ladies of the court of King Charles II, some of whom were his mistresses. The name stems from the original location of the collection, which was housed at Windsor Castle. They can now be seen at Hampton Court Palace.

The Portraits

The Royal Collection includes 10 portraits as part of the set. They show the women at three-quarter length in various poses. Some women wear current fashions; others are draped in loose robes intended to evoke classical antiquity.
Originally commissioned by Anne Hyde, Duchess of York, the first mention of the paintings is by Pepys, describing them in his diary as being hung in "the Duke of York's room" in 1668. A 1674 inventory lists them as in the ducal rooms at St.James Palace; and by 1688 they had moved to the "Princess's dressing room" at Windsor Castle. Moved to the Castle's state rooms during the eighteenth century, the Windsor beauties were transferred to Hampton court at some time prior to 1835.

List of "Beauties"

The original set of "Beauties" painted by Lely include, depending on the source:
The portraits for the first 10 names are included at the Royal Collection website as "probably commissioned by Anne Hyde, Duchess of York."
The Duchess of York does not figure in the above list often; but since she was largely responsible for the collection, she was also painted as part of the series. Possibly a little flattery from Lely was responsible for this.

Gallery