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Some Beauties of the Seventeenth
Century by Allan Fea
This reproduction of the book written by Allan Fea is a book full of interesting facts and pictures of some of the prominent women of the seventeenth century. Its main theme is part biography of, and part influence in society of, some prominent women of the seventeenth century. The women discussed in this book were some of the many that, in the latter part of the seventeenth century particularly, became very notable in society through their beauty. Before the Second World War not much was written about the place of women in history. Thanks to many contemporary portraits that were accessible when Fea wrote this book, the appearance of those women considered 'Beauties' has been recorded. Most of the eighty-two illustrations in the book are of contemporary portraits of the women featured in the book, they were painted by the best portrait painters of the day, such as Lely and kneller. Some of these are from the "Windsor Beauties" or "Hampton Court Beauties" Collections by Peter Lely and Godfrey Kneller. Fea remarks that some artists such as Lely already had a preference or personal idea for what "classic beauty" should be. As result it is noticeable that many of the women featured in the portraits of the late seventeenth century seem to be very similar, leading to some confusion when trying to identify the women in some of them - such are the risks of painting to a perceived ideal of classic beauty. But at least we get an idea of the appearance of the considered 'Beauties' of the seventeenth century. Defining beauty is something that seems to vary, not only from one person to another, but it is also something that varies through the ages, often to fit in with the fashions of the day. What we find is that different ages had different ideas about beauty. We only have to compare new and old movies to see that in even the recent past a general view of what looks good can change quite dramatically in a fairly short time.
Above: Some Portraits by Peter Lely, are they of the same, similar or completely separate women? He painted to what he considered the classic
look of beauty - the subjects of his paintings often had a similar, idealised look.
Allen Fea's book focuses largely on the subjects known as the "Windsor" or "Hampton court" beauties. The portraits demonstrate that by the
latter seventeenth century a painting was less about religion or monarchy but rather to show beauty or the personal status of the sitter. The
common theme running through the beauties discussed by Fea is the king, Charles II. The easy going monarch had many mistresses and those ladies
that gained his attention became famous for their beauty. This may be due to the king's somewhat 'loose' attitude towards which women he
associated himself with. Some were from the aristocracy; others were from more humbler origins, such as the famous Eleanor 'Nell' Gwynne,
daughter of a Convent Garden fruiterer and born in the 'Coal Yard, Drury lane', so the saying went. This behaviour that gained the king the
title 'the merry monarch' would seem to be what he is now most remembered for. As such a whole multitude of portraits of the beauties that were
the favourite of the king were produced. Having a portrait painted became ever more fashionable and the opportunity of having a professional portrait
produced became more widely available to anyone who had even just a little wealth. This, and the increasing of wealth amongst the wider populace,
particularly in England, allowed more people to commission a portrait to be made for themselves.
The opening Pages of the chapter on Nell Gwyn
The first chapter of the book begins with Hortense Mancini. During the common wealth years, when the post of king had been abolished by parliament, Charles Stuart lived in exile in Europe. Here, still lacking a kingdom and with little prospect of returning to Britain he had met and became infatuated with Hortense Mancini, niece of Cardinal Marazin, he had even asked for her hand in marriage. This request was turned down and she had married elsewhere, but years later they would meet again. When the monarchy had been restored in Britain and Charles was king, she was brought to the court in London and the made quite an impression on him again. For many years she had been known for her beauty but her marriage was not a success and she had deserted her husband, and then was joined by her sister, Marie Mancini, who had also left her husband.
The next chapter is about the king's 'favourite sister', Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans, giving a short account of her biography, and her relationship with her admirers, problems with her husband and his controlling confidant. On a visit from France to visit her brother, Henrietta brought with her a maid of honour, Louise de Keroualla, another beauty that caught the king's eye. Although she returned to France with his sister, there is in the book another chapter devoted to her. The king invited her back to be maid of honour to his wife, and thus she became a favourite to the king. At the same time that Louise de Keroualla was at the centre of the king's attention there was another contending for the king's attentions, and being more successful -Nell Gwyn. Louise de Keroualla represented a French catholic threat to many and so Nell Gwyn, a protestant mistress, was actually approved of by many court officials. These two favourites became serious rivals for the king's attention, going some lengths to out perform the other. Such were the intrigues of the court and fascinating details provided by Fea's book. The contents listing the women featured in Fea's book is given below:
Contents list of chapters