Self-portrait, 1645 |
Samuel Cooper (1609-1672) became King's Limner when Charles II was able to reclaim his father's throne in 1660. Cooper's watercolor miniatures on vellum had already made him famous across Europe and gained him a circle of cultured English friends that included John Aubrey, John Evelyn, Thomas Hobbes and John Milton. After the Restoration, Cooper produced an abundance of pocket-sized courtier-portraits, many (like these) remaining to this day in the Royal Collection.
Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland, 1661 |
Frances Stuart, Duchess of Richmond, 1663-64 |
Frances Stuart, Duchess of Richmond, c. 1663 (in riding habit) |
Edward Montague, 2nd Earl of Sandwich, c. 1670 |
Hugh May (architect), 1653 |
Portrait of a lady, c. 1650 |
James Scott, Duke of Monmouth and Buccleuch, c. 1667 |
James, Duke of York, c. 1665 |
Queen Catherine of Braganza, c. 1662 (unfinished) |
King Charles II, c. 1660-70 |
Charles II, c. 1660 (profile drawing as model for coinage) |