Mary II was the eldest daughter of the future James VII and II and his first wife, Anne Hyde. This beautiful mezzotint by Abraham Blooteling was printed after her marriage to William of Orange in 1677, as it includes her title as Princess of Orange inscribed in Latin. Lely?s portrait, which this print is a reproduction of, was painted around the time of her marriage and shows her sitting in a landscape, holding a posy of flowers. The scalloped hem of her sleeve, just visible on the right-hand side, is more obvious in the painted portrait and would indicate to a contemporary audience that Mary was playing a pastoral role, such as a shepherdess or nymph. These roles were made fashionable from popular plays and masques, and deemed suitable for the depiction of young brides in portraits.
Abraham Blooteling (Netherlandish, 1640 - 1690)
Born in Amsterdam, Abraham Blooteling was a portrait engraver recognised for his development of the new technique of mezzotint involving a tool called a rocker, which created a textured surface on the plate. Blooteling worked closely with the Dutch painter Sir Peter Lely, and together they proved to be important figures in the introduction and development of the mezzotint technique of printmaking to Britain. Blooteling was based in London from 1672-8.
Sir Peter Lely (English, 1618 - 1680)
Lely was born in Soest, Germany, of Dutch parents. In 1637 he was registered as a pupil of Pieter de Grebber in his father's home town of Haarlem. He came to London in about 1643, and in 1647 painted the children of Charles I, in custody during the Civil War. By the end of the Commonwealth, he was the best-known portrait painter in England and, after the restoration of Charles II, he was appointed Principal Painter to the king in 1661. His society beauties are heavy-lidded and sensuous whilst his portraits of Admirals (National Maritime Museum) show a more serious side to his art. The output of his studio was huge, Lely relied heavily on assistants. He was knighted the year of his death.
