DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51519#0279
LADY BELLASYS.
235
gentleman of fortune, whose name was Fortrey, of whom we know
nothing but that she survived him. Her son, Henry Bellasys,
succeeded in 1684 to the title and estates of his grandfather, as
Lord Bellasys of Worlaby, and died about the year 1690: he
married Anne Brudenell, a beautiful woman, and sister of the
celebrated Countess of Newburgh, Lord Lansdowne’s Mira. She
afterwards married Charles Lennox, Duke of Richmond; and from
her the present duke is descended.
It is to be inferred, from a letter of Swift to Mrs. Dingley, (or
rather to Stella} that Lady Bellasys appeared again at court in
the reign of Queen Anne, and from this daughter of her former
lover she received every mark of distinction and respect. She died
on the 6th of January, 1713, bequeathing’ her rich inheritance
among her nearest kinsmen: Lord Berkeley of Stratton was
appointed the executor of her will, with a legacy of ten thousand
pounds.
Horace AValpole, in allusion to this portrait, thinks it probable
that Charles, by admitting Lady Bellasys into the gallery at
Windsor, meant to insinuate the superiority of his own taste over
that of his brother; if so, he has not assuredly taken the best
means of proving it, since every other face, however regular and
beautiful, appears insipid when placed in contrast with this noble
creature,—Miss Hamilton’s, perhaps, alone excepted.
Lady Bellasys is here represented as St. Catherine. Her left
hand rests on the wheel, and supports the palm branch; her right
hand is pressed to her bosom. The drapery, which is dark blue
and crimson, falls round her in grand and ample folds, and is
coloured with exceeding' richness. In the back-ground two
cherubs are descending to crown her with myrtle, and she turns
her large dark eyes towards them with an expression of rapturous
devotion. Her jet black hair, falling from beneath a coronet of
gems, flows in ringlets upon her neck; and this peculiarity, as
well as the uncovered amplitude of the bosom and shoulders, seems
235
gentleman of fortune, whose name was Fortrey, of whom we know
nothing but that she survived him. Her son, Henry Bellasys,
succeeded in 1684 to the title and estates of his grandfather, as
Lord Bellasys of Worlaby, and died about the year 1690: he
married Anne Brudenell, a beautiful woman, and sister of the
celebrated Countess of Newburgh, Lord Lansdowne’s Mira. She
afterwards married Charles Lennox, Duke of Richmond; and from
her the present duke is descended.
It is to be inferred, from a letter of Swift to Mrs. Dingley, (or
rather to Stella} that Lady Bellasys appeared again at court in
the reign of Queen Anne, and from this daughter of her former
lover she received every mark of distinction and respect. She died
on the 6th of January, 1713, bequeathing’ her rich inheritance
among her nearest kinsmen: Lord Berkeley of Stratton was
appointed the executor of her will, with a legacy of ten thousand
pounds.
Horace AValpole, in allusion to this portrait, thinks it probable
that Charles, by admitting Lady Bellasys into the gallery at
Windsor, meant to insinuate the superiority of his own taste over
that of his brother; if so, he has not assuredly taken the best
means of proving it, since every other face, however regular and
beautiful, appears insipid when placed in contrast with this noble
creature,—Miss Hamilton’s, perhaps, alone excepted.
Lady Bellasys is here represented as St. Catherine. Her left
hand rests on the wheel, and supports the palm branch; her right
hand is pressed to her bosom. The drapery, which is dark blue
and crimson, falls round her in grand and ample folds, and is
coloured with exceeding' richness. In the back-ground two
cherubs are descending to crown her with myrtle, and she turns
her large dark eyes towards them with an expression of rapturous
devotion. Her jet black hair, falling from beneath a coronet of
gems, flows in ringlets upon her neck; and this peculiarity, as
well as the uncovered amplitude of the bosom and shoulders, seems