DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51519#0166
142
LADY DENHAM.
caused by terror, or by indignation and grief, and not by remorse,
as it was insinuated. The matter was at the time hushed up with
all convenient speed, and the horrible fate by which this unhappy
woman expiated her errors remains a mystery.
Sir John Denham diedin 1668, about a year after his wife ;
he had completely recovered from his insanity some months before
his death; and, in the interval, wrote his poem on the death of
Cowley.
Except the portraits of Miss Hamilton and Lady Bellasys,
there is not one amoiiff the Beauties at Windsor that can be com-
o
pared to this picture of Lady Denham, either for delicacy of
execution, or splendour of colouring. She is represented seated on
a bank, with flowers in her lap, dressed in rich amber-coloured
satin: the neck, bosom, hands, and arms, are beautiful • the face is
not generally considered as attractive, yet the features, which are
too large and striking for a delicate beauty, have a singular
expression which rivets the attention,—blending capacity, pride,
and the capability of strong passions. Her complexion is fair, but
glowing and fresh like a full-blown flower : her hair of a lovely
brown. The whole disposition of the picture, and the magnificent
colouring of the drapery and the background, have never been
surpassed by Lely, even in his most celebrated works. It is now
engraved for the first time.
[The curious sketch of the Life of Sir John Denham, given by
the antiquarian Aubrey in his entertaining Letters and Lives of
Eminent Persons, seems to us by no means an improper supplement
to the life of his lady. Aubrey was a great collector of gossiping
stories, which, from their nature, are not absolutely to be depended
upon.
“I have heard Mr. James Howe say, that he was the dream-
ingest young fellow j he never expected such things from him as
LADY DENHAM.
caused by terror, or by indignation and grief, and not by remorse,
as it was insinuated. The matter was at the time hushed up with
all convenient speed, and the horrible fate by which this unhappy
woman expiated her errors remains a mystery.
Sir John Denham diedin 1668, about a year after his wife ;
he had completely recovered from his insanity some months before
his death; and, in the interval, wrote his poem on the death of
Cowley.
Except the portraits of Miss Hamilton and Lady Bellasys,
there is not one amoiiff the Beauties at Windsor that can be com-
o
pared to this picture of Lady Denham, either for delicacy of
execution, or splendour of colouring. She is represented seated on
a bank, with flowers in her lap, dressed in rich amber-coloured
satin: the neck, bosom, hands, and arms, are beautiful • the face is
not generally considered as attractive, yet the features, which are
too large and striking for a delicate beauty, have a singular
expression which rivets the attention,—blending capacity, pride,
and the capability of strong passions. Her complexion is fair, but
glowing and fresh like a full-blown flower : her hair of a lovely
brown. The whole disposition of the picture, and the magnificent
colouring of the drapery and the background, have never been
surpassed by Lely, even in his most celebrated works. It is now
engraved for the first time.
[The curious sketch of the Life of Sir John Denham, given by
the antiquarian Aubrey in his entertaining Letters and Lives of
Eminent Persons, seems to us by no means an improper supplement
to the life of his lady. Aubrey was a great collector of gossiping
stories, which, from their nature, are not absolutely to be depended
upon.
“I have heard Mr. James Howe say, that he was the dream-
ingest young fellow j he never expected such things from him as