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Description: | A three-quarter length group portrait against a landscape setting. Sir John Cotton, wearing black with sleeves cut underneath to reveal a voluminous white shirt, is seated to the left. He has shoulder-length brown hair. He sits with his left hand resting on the arm of a chair, his right gesturing off to the left. A short cloak is draped over his right shoulder. Lady Cotton, in a gold dress, sits to the right. Her hair is dressed in ringlets. She sits facing towards her husband, with her head and shoulders turned towards the viewer, a ribbon and flowers in her hands. Her gown has puffed sleeves pinned over a white chemise, with a low neckline. She wears a string of pearls around her neck. Between them stands their son John, in a brown cloak, which he holds against his chest with his right hand. To the right, their young daughter Jane, in maroon and blue, carries a basket of flowers which she holds out to her mother for her to bind into a wreath. The background setting is of a sculptural fantasy, including a fountain decorated with putti and a dolphin, beyond which is a wooded valley with a cascade on the left.
The elaborate 'Sunderland' frame features scrolling and shell designs, with a gargoyle-like creature in the centre on the lower edge.
Technique: oil on canvas
Material: oil paint on canvas
medium: Oil paint
Sir John Cotton and His Family by Sir Peter Lely, 1660, (1966.344). | Source: | Manchester City Galleries | Identifier: | mcag.emu.ecatalogue.6961 | Go to resource |
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