Three days before the anniversary of the death of Louise de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth, this week’s picture is Sir Peter Lely’s portrait of her sitting under a tree, wearing a strikingly low-cut gown, against the backdrop of a romantically wild landscape. Robert Spencer, Second Earl of Sunderland, commissioned the painting from Lely as part of a series of portraits of court “beauties” destined for the picture gallery of Althorp, his family seat. The work has remained there ever since, with the occasional leave of absence. It is currently on loan to the National Portrait Gallery, where it can be seen in the exhibition “Painted Ladies: Women at the Court of Charles II.”

Charles II was devoted to Louise de Keroualle, his principal mistress in the 1670s and 1680s, exclaiming in one of many love letters to her that “ ‘tis impossible to express the true passion and kindness I have for my dearest dearest fubs.” She was genuinely fond of him too, although she was not simply following the dictates of her heart in pursuing an affair with the King of England.

Louise Renee de Penancoet de Keroualle was born into a family of provincial Breton aristocrats. She first came to England in the train of Charles II’s sister, Henrietta Anne, Duchess of Orleans, who had been sent from France in 1670 by Louis XIV to conclude the Treaty of Dover. According to tradition, when Henrietta invited Charles to choose one of her jewels as a diplomatic gift he looked straight at Louise de Kerouaille and said “She is the only jewel I covet.” The delegation departed but after Henrietta’s sudden death a few weeks later, Louis XIV cunningly instructed the young French noblewoman who had so impressed Charles to return to England immediately and console the monarch for...

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