Sir Ralph Bankes

Sir Ralph Bankes

Peter Lely, ca. 1660

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Artist: Peter Lely (Dutch, 1618–1680)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 46 7/8 x 38 3/4 inches (119.1 x 98.4 cm)
Museum: Yale Center for British Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

Sir Ralph Bankes (1631–77/79) trained in the law and became a politician and gentleman of the Privy Chamber under Charles II. After the Restoration, he sought to re-establish a dynasty that had been badly shaken by the Civil War. The medieval family home, Corfe Castle, in Dorset, had been destroyed by parliamentary forces, but, rather than rebuild it, he chose to construct a new house, Kingston Lacy (completed in 1665), which stands today.

In Peter Lely’s portrait, Bankes appears as a gentleman of taste and leisure; indeed, he was famous for art collecting, a pastime that allied him closely with Lely, who was a close friend. But the imposing head of the English mastiff, a dog known for its watchfulness (its collar is inscribed “Sr R B”), and the presence of the column, an attribute of upstanding character, also speak to Bankes’s ambitions as the stalwart protector of his family’s legacy.

Text: Yale Center for British Art.

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