-
A Pursuivant from the Garter Procession
Peter Lely, born 1618 - died 1680 - Enlarge image
A Pursuivant from the Garter Procession
- Object:
Drawing
- Place of origin:
England, Great Britain (made)
- Date:
1660-1670 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Peter Lely, born 1618 - died 1680 (maker)
- Materials and Techniques:
Black chalk, heightened with white, on blue-grey paper
- Museum number:
2166
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 56d, case 12A
Object Type
The drawing shows a partcipant in the Procession of the Order of the Garter. It is one of 31 surviving drawings in which the artist recorded the various participants on their route through the palaces of Westminster. Together they give a vivid impression of the ceremony in the 1660s, some 300 years after the Order had been founded.
Time
The annual Procession of the Order of the Garter was introduced in the mid-14th century and is still held in London on St George's Day, 23 April, every year. During the Civil War and Interregnum, when the monarch was in exile, the Order was suspended. After the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 it was revived and its ceremony duly recommenced, with the King at its head. By way of celebration, a far more elaborate costume was introduced.
People
The artist, Sir Peter Lely, arrived in London from his native Holland in the early 1640s. In spite of two decades of political uncertainty, by the 1660s he had become the most popular portrait painter in Britain. In 1661 Charles II granted him an annual pension in recognition of his role as Principal Painter. The previous holder of this title was Lely's fellow countryman, Anthony Van Dyck, who died in 1642.
