Diana Kirke, later Countess of Oxford

Sir Peter Lely, 1618–1680

ca. 1665

Oil on canvas

Yale Center for British Art

A woman with curly brown hair and fair skin is depicted in a golden, flowing dress. She is holding a light pink rose in her right hand and leans on a stone ledge with her left arm. The inscription at the bottom right of this painting identifies the sitter as Diana Kirke, the daughter of a Scottish courtier. Her family came to England when James VI of Scotland acceded to the throne in 1603, and thereafter they improved their social standing through advantageous marriages to members of the English ruling class. This striking portrait presents Kirke as self-possessed and in command of her sexuality, and points to the promise of her marriage to Aubrey de Vere, a member of one of the oldest aristocratic families in the country. The rose she holds alludes to Venus, the goddess of love, asserting Kirke’s confidence a