Diana De Vere, Duchess of St. Albans (d.1742)

This 1691 portrait of Diana De Vere, Duchess of St. Albans, as a mythological figure exemplifies the Stuart and early Georgian fashion for depicting aristocratic women in the guise of classical deities or allegorical figures. The Duchess's husband was the Duke of St. Albans, illegitimate son of Charles II and Nell Gwyn, and her portrait in mythological guise participated in the aristocratic culture of classical allusion that connected English court life to continental Baroque traditions. Kneller's facility with elaborate costume and allegorical accessories gave his mythological female portraits a decorative opulence that distinguished them from his more sober male likenesses.

The mythological portrait combines portrait likeness with classical idealization, the Duchess rendered with the luminous skin and flowing drapery that Kneller employed for his most flattering aristocratic female portraits.