Circle of Sir Peter Lely

(Soest 1618-1680 London)

Portrait of Margaret Blagge (1652-1678), three-quarter-length, in a gold dress with a blue wrap, seated before a landscape

Footnotes

Provenance
Formerly in the collection of John Evelyn, the Diarist, and thence by descent through the family to
J.H.C Evelyn, by whose trustees offered
Sale, Christie's, London, 24 November 1972, lot 147 (as part of a pair), where purchased by
Collection of T.E. Beale Esq., West Lodge Park, Enfield, and by descent to the present owner

Exhibited
London, Royal Academy of Arts, The Age of Charles II Winter Exhibition 10 December 1960- 26 February 1961, cat. no. 240 (lent by John Evelyn, Esq)
Eastbourne, Towner Art Gallery, The Excellent Mrs Mary Beale, 10 January-21 February 1976, cat. no. 39 (lent by T. Edward Beale)
Surrey, Hampton Court Palace, The Wild, the Beautiful and the Damned, 5 April-30 September 2012

Literature
B. Dolman, Beauty, Sex and Power, A story of debauchery and decadent art at the late Stuart court (1660-1714), 2012, ill. p.36 (published to accompany the 2012 exhibition at Hampton Court Palace, The Wild, the Beautiful and the Damned)

Margaret Blagge (c. 1652-1678) is remembered for her close platonic friendship with the diarist John Evelyn. From a family of gentry, she served in the royal household and in 1666 became Maid of Honour to the Duchess of York. On the latter's death in 1771 she performed the same role for Queen Catherine of Braganza. Evelyn became a kind of mentor to Margaret who was deeply devout and they met on a weekly basis to discuss religious and philosophical matters. He saw her as the embodiment of feminine perfection, one of the very few people who eschewed the carnal temptations of court in favour of a life of virtue and platonic friendship. She married Sidney Godolphin secretly in 1676 and died two years later at the young age of 26 following complications during childbirth, leaving both Evelyn and her husband devastated; the latter never remarried. Evelyn wrote an account of her life that was published in the 19th century in which he said she was 'For wit, beauty, good nature, fidelitie, discretion and all accomplishments, the most choice and agreeable person that ever I was acquainted with'.