Lady Borlase

Gerard Soest was a German-born painter who spent most of his career in England, where he worked as a portrait painter from the 1650s until his death in 1681, operating in the competitive world of Restoration London alongside Lely and Riley. This portrait of Lady Borlase, painted around 1672 to 1675, shows Soest working in the richly decorative manner of the Restoration court style, with its emphasis on silks, lace, and a languorous elegance that reflected the cultural tone set by Charles II's court. Lady Borlase is rendered with the characteristic attributes of Restoration female portraiture: flowing drapery, an informal pose suggesting natural ease, and complexion painting that prizes smooth luminosity. Soest occupies an interesting position as a foreign-born painter who thoroughly absorbed and reproduced English aristocratic taste, contributing to the cosmopolitan character of Restoration art.

Soest applies smooth, creamy paint to the flesh, a technique for complexion that follows Lely's example in prioritizing luminous skin tones. The drapery is handled with more bravura, broad confident strokes describing the fall of silk. The background is a dark neutral with the suggestion of landscape or drapery at the edges.