Peter Lely: A Lyrical VIsion
Research workshop

Friday, 19 October 2012

14.30 – 18.30, Research Forum South Room (with registration from 14.00)

This research workshop is organised in association with The Courtauld Gallery’s autumn exhibition Peter Lely: A Lyrical Vision (11 October 2012 – 13 January 2013). It will examine the remarkable but largely forgotten group of narrative paintings produced by Peter Lely (1618-80) before his appointment as Principal Painter to Charles II.  Many of these works depict a sensuous pastoral world of shepherds, nymphs and musicians in idyllic Arcadian settings.  Organised around The Courtauld’s enigmatic The Concert, the exhibition also includes an important group of little-known paintings loaned from historic private collections. By 1654 Lely was judged to be ‘the best artist in England’ but from then on, aided by a flourishing studio, he produced almost exclusively portraits. The exhibition and the workshop aim to locate Lely’s production before 1660 within the literary and cultural contexts of the 1640s and 50s.  A number of short papers will be followed by the opportunity for more informal discussion in the exhibition space.

Speaker(s): Caroline Campbell (The National Gallery/ The Courtauld Gallery); Karen Hearn (University College London); James Loxley (University of Edinburgh); David Taylor (The National Trust), Jeremy Wood (University of Nottingham); Joanna Woodall (The Courtauld Institute of Art)


Ticket/entry details: £11 (free for Courtauld students but due to limited space advance booking is required)


Organised by: Dr Caroline Campbell (National Gallery/ The Courtauld)

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Downlaod abstracts Download abstracts

Further information about the exhibition: Peter Lely: A Lyrical Vision


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