Sir PETER LELY (1618--1680), originally named Van der Faes, was the very accomplished painter of the Court, some of whose better works may be compared with Van Dyck's. He came to England in 1643, and profited by his art under Charles I., the Protectorate, and Charles II. Walpole said of Lely's nymphs that they are "generally reposed on the turf, and are too wanton and too magnificent to be taken for anything but Maids of Honour." The well-known collection of Lely's portraits at Hampton Court includes, among others, those of the _Duchess of Richmond_; the _Countess of Rochester_; _Mrs. Middleton_ the celebrated beauty; the _Countess of Northumberland_; the _Duchess of Cleveland, as Minerva_; the _Countess de Grammont_, and _Jane Kellaway, as Diana_ (misnamed Princess Mary). _Mrs. Middleton_, in the National Portrait Gallery, by Lely, is remarkably good. Lely fell dead before his easel, while painting a portrait of the _Dowager Duchess of Somerset_, November 30th, 1680. Several English artists practised in this reign. HENRY ANDERTON (1630--after 1665) was a portrait painter employed at Court. ISAAC FULLER (1606--1672) painted portraits and allegoric pieces. He is described as extravagant and burlesque in his tastes and manners, and his works bear the mark of this character. An epigram on a "Drunken Sot" is to this effect:-- "His head doth on his shoulder lean, His eyes are sunk, and hardly seen; Who sees this sot in his own colour Is apt to say, ''twas done by Fuller.'" JOHN GREENHILL (1649--1676) was the most celebrated of Lely's pupils. ROBERT STREATER (1624--1680) was made Serjeant-Painter to Charles II., and painted landscapes and historic works. His work still survives in the Theatre at Oxford, but we cannot echo the praise accorded to it by a rhymester who says-- "That future ages must confess they owe To Streater more than Michael Angelo." That most delightful of gossips, Samuel Pepys, has much to say about art, of which he was no mean critic. Writing on February 1st, 1688, Pepys said: "I was carried to Mr. Streater's, the famous history-painter, whom I have often heard of, but did never see him before; and there I found him and Dr. Wren and several virtuosos, looking upon the paintings which he is making for the new Theatre at Oxford; and indeed they look as if they would be very fine, and the rest think better than those of Rubens in the Banqueting-house at Whitehall, but I do not fully think so. But they will certainly be very noble; and I am mightily pleased to have the fortune to see this man and his work, which is very famous, and he is a very civil little man, and lame, but lives very handsomely."