Peter Lely was in many ways Van Dyck’s obvious successor. Both men dominated court portraiture after arriving in England; they both developed a subtle brand of elegance; and they both had an opulent lifestyle, which translated to tactile opulence in their paintings. The majority of Lely’s female sitters sported the typical coiffure of the day: side curls hanging close to their face. In Alexander Pope’s (1688–1744) opinion, Lely’s portraits of women were characterized by “the sleepy eye that spoke the melting soul.”