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Mary Beale (née Cradock; late March 1633 – 8 October 1699) was one of the most successful professional female Baroque-era portrait painters of the late 17th century due to the perseverance of her business. Praised by Richard Gibson and court painter Peter Lely, she is compared with contemporary female amateur painter Joan Carlile. Mary Beale managed to be the financial provider for her family through her professional portrait business. Her book Observations, though never officially published, was one of the first instructional books ever written by a woman, and boldly announced her authority on painting. Mary Beale stood apart from other women due to her outspokenness and successful business that allowed her to be the breadwinner of the family.

Early life
Mary Cradock was born in the rectory of Barrow, Suffolk, in late March 1633. She was baptised on 26 March by her father John Cradock in All Saints Church in the village. Her mother was Dorothy; her maiden name is illegible on her marriage record to John Cradock. Aside from being a rector, John Cradock was also an amateur painter, who may have taught Mary how to paint. It was common for fathers to teach their daughters how to paint at the time. Growing up in Barrow, Mary lived close to Bury St Edmunds. A group of painters worked in Bury St Edmunds, including Peter Lely and Matthew Snelling, whom Mary may have met in her youth. On 23 August 1643, John and Dorothy Cradock gave birth to a son named John. Dorothy died not long after the birth. During the Civil War, John Cradock appointed Walter Cradock, a distant cousin of his, as guardian of his children John and Mary.

Charles Beale
Mary Cradock met Charles Beale (1632-1705), a cloth merchant who was also an amateur painter, during a visit to the Heighams of Wickhambrook, who were related to the Yelverton and Beale families. Charles Beale wrote her a passionate love letter and poem on 25 July of an unknown year. Mary Cradock married Charles Beale on 8 March 1652 at the age of eighteen. Her father, John Cradock, was gravely ill at the time and died a few days after Mary's marriage. The couple moved to Walton-on-Thames at some point afterward. Charles Beale was working as a Deputy Clerk of the Patents Office until his dismissal from the job in 1664. After his unemployment eventually Charles became Mary's studio manager once she became a professional painter. At some point, Charles was working for the Board of Green Cloth where he mixed color pigments. Circa 1660-64 the family moved to Albrook, (now Allbrook), Otterbourne, Hampshire, to escape the plague. Throughout their marriage, Mary and Charles worked together as equals and as business partners, which was not often seen at the time.

The Beale Children
On 18 October 1654 Charles and Mary's first son, Bartholomew, was buried. Little else is known about their first son. Their second son was baptised on 14 February 1655/6 and also named Bartholomew. Their third son Charles was born in 1660. Charles and Bartholomew Beale helped with work in the studio in their youth, where they painted draperies and sculpted ovals; these ovals were a critical piece in Mary Beale's head portraits. Young Charles Beale, the third son and named after his father, showed great talent in painting and went to study miniature painting on 5 March 1677. He enjoyed painting miniature sculptures from 1679 to 1688, when his eyesight started to fail him. From then on, he worked on full scale portraits. Bartholomew Beale, the second son, started with painting but instead turned to medicine. In 1680, he studied at Clare Hall, Cambridge and graduated MB in 1682. Bartholomew set up his medical practice on a small property in Coventry, which his father owned.

Professional Life
A common way for amateur artists to learn and practice at the time was to copy great works and masterpieces that were made accessible through ones social circle and courtly gifts. Mary Beale preferred to paint in oil and water colors, and when she did a drawing, she would draw in crayon. Peter Lely, who succeeded Anthony van Dyck as the court painter, took a great interest in Mary's progress as an artist, especially since she would practice painting by imitating some of his work. Mary Beale started working by painting favors for people she knew in exchange for small gifts or favors. Charles Beale kept close record of everything Mary did as an artist. He would take notes on how she painted, what business transactions took place, who came to visit, and what praise she would receive. Charles wrote thirty notebooks' worth of observations over the years, calling Mary "my dearest heart". She became a semi-professional portrait painter in the 1650s and 1660s, working from her home, first in Covent Garden and later in Fleet Street in London. When living in Convent Garden, Beale was a near neighbor to artist Joan Carlile.

Training
Mary Beale is the only one of the few female artists in the 17th century who independently maintained a commercial painting studio for more than twenty years. She did this without any formal training from an academy, no connection to an artist guild, and no royal or courtly patronage. Mary's father, Reverend John Cradock was a Puritan man of great intelligence. He was a Fellow at both Gonville and Caius College, and made sure Mary received a humanist education. John Cradock was an amateur painter himself, and most likely taught Mary how to draw and paint. During her childhood in Suffolk Mary's father was friendly with contemporary British artists such as Sir Nathaniel Bacon, Robert Walker, and of course, Sir Peter Lely. All four men were Freemen of the Worshipful Company of Painter- Stainers. Her father's artistic relationships led to both Robert Walker and Peter Lely being "the most likely drawing masters to the young Mary".

Sir Peter Lely
The famous Dutch painter Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680) spent most of his career in England and eventually became the royal court painter to King Charles II. He was a contemporary of Beale's and they maintained an artistic relationship that was influential to Mary's art and beneficial to her career. The exact time of their introduction is up for debate. One theory being that the two first met before her marriage to Charles when she was living in Suffolk, and the other being that they met in either 1655 or 1656 when Mary and Charles moved to Convent Garden in London and became Lely's neighbor. In detailed documents kept by Charles Beale of his wife's practice it states that Lely would visit the Beale home occasionally to observe Mary paint and praise her work. Their friendship led to Lely loaning Beale and her family some of his old master paintings for them to copy from. The Beale's commissioned many portraits from Lely of themselves and their friends. It is noted by contemporary George Vertue that portraits of mary and her family were present at their home at Hind Court in 1661.

Writings
In 1663, Mary Beale published Observations. It is a non-published piece of instructional writing that starts by critiquing how to paint apricots. Observations is one of the earliest writings on oil painting instruction to come out of England by an artist of either gender. Despite it being written entirely by Mary, Observations is at the end of a book of Charles Beale's writing. Making it a rare example of husband and wife working together at the time. It boldly declared Mary Beale as an artist to remember. Mary Beale also wrote a manuscript called Discourse on Friendship in 1666 and four poems in 1667.

The business of painting
The key for a female to become a successful professional painter was to earn a good reputation. Mary's father, an amateur artist, funded her general education may have including courses in painting and drawing. It could be easy to misconstrue strangers entering a woman's home for a business transaction as something that would portray the woman in an impure light. Once Mary did start painting for money in the 1670s, she carefully picked whom she would paint, and used the praise of her circle of friends to build a good reputation as a painter. Some of these people included Queen Henrietta Maria and John Tillotson, a clergyman from St James' Church, a close friend of Mary Beale who eventually became the Archbishop of Canterbury. Mary's connection to Tillotson as well as her strong Puritan marriage to Charles worked in her favor in building up her good reputation. Mary Beale typically charged five pounds for a painting of a head and ten pounds for half of a body for oil paintings. She made about two hundred pounds a year and gave ten per cent of her earnings to charity. This income was enough to support her family, and she did so. Needless to say, it is truly remarkable that Mary Beale was responsible for being the breadwinner of the family. By 1681 Mary's commissions were beginning to diminish.

In 1681, Mary Beale took on two students, Keaty Trioche and Mr. More, who worked with her in the studio. In 1691, Sarah Curtis from Yorkshire became another student of Mary's. Sarah had similar behaviors and dispositions as Mary. Mary Beale died on 8 October 1699. Her death was mistaken for the death of Mary Beadle, whose recorded death is on 28 December 1697. Not much is known about her death besides that she died in a house on Pall Mall and was buried under the communion table of St James's Church, Piccadilly on 8 October 1699. Her tomb was destroyed by enemy bombs during the Second World War. A memorial to her lies within the church.

Prominent Sitters
Distinguished Anglican Clergyman Dr. John Tillotson (1630-1694) was a frequent sitter for Mrs. Beale. She painted him a total of five times in 1664,1672,1677, 1681, and 1687. Dr. Tillotson was related to the Cromwell family because he married the niece of Oliver Cromwell, Elizabeth in 1664. Elizabeth was a close friend of Mary's and was one of the individuals who received her writing "The Discourse on Friendship". the Beale's would commission a portrait of Dr. Tillotson for themselves by Sir Peter Lely in 1672.

Royalist Colonel Giles Strangways (1615-1675) was an admirer of Mary Beale's paintings and another important patron. Strangways fought for King Charles I during the English civil war and also had a hand in the secret escape of Charles II into exile in 1651, as well as his reinstatement in 1660. Mary was commissioned by Strangways to paint his portrait along with ones of his wife, his son and his daughter during the 1670's.

Nobleman Henry Cavendish (1630-1691) was another important sitter for Mary Beale. He became the 2nd Duke of Newcastle in 1676 and him and is Duchess Frances nee Pierrepont were frequent patrons of Mary who commissioned their portraits soon after in 1677. The Duke and Duchess were introduced to Mary's work through Frances' father, the Hon. William Pierrepont (1607-1678) who's portrait was also painted by Mary around 1670. William Pierrepont was supportive of Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War and remained an opponent to the Restoration of the Stuart Monarchy.

Style
The style that Mary Beale painted in was Baroque. Baroque art is a style of sculpture, painting, music, and architecture that was prominent in Europe from the early 17th century until the mid 18th. Baroque art is characterized by use of light and shadow, depictions of movement, as well as use of rich color, all to elicit a sense of grandeur and awe. Baroque portraiture in particular is known for its rich colors, light contrasts, and attention to fabric detail.

Mary Beale's paintings are often described as "vigorous" and "masculine". (It was common to praise a woman for her work by calling her "masculine".) The color is seen as pure, sweet, natural, clear and fresh, although some critics see her coloring as "heavy and stiff". Due to copying Italian masterpieces as practice, Mary Beale is said to have acquired "an Italian air and style". Not too many could compete with her "color, strength, force, or life". Sir Peter Lely admired Beale's work, saying she "worked with a wonderful body of color, and was exceedingly industrious." Others criticise her work as weak in expression and finish with disagreeable colors and poorly rendered hands. It is sometimes described as "scratchy" with a "limited color palette" and too closely imitates the work of Lely. In the decades after her death, art historian George Vertue praised her work by saying "Mrs. Mary Beale painted in oil very well" and "work'd with a wonderfull body of colors".

Some of her work can be found on display in the Geffrye Museum in London, though the largest public collection can be found at Moyse's Hall museum, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Beale was the subject of a solo exhibition at the Geffrye Museum in 1975, which transferred to the Towner Art Gallery in Eastbourne the following year.

Portrait Practice
The work of Mary Beale was successful because she was able to produce portraits that genuinely resembled the sitter. Patrons in the 17th century desired portraits of their friends, family, and famous aristocrats that they could recognize, because at the time collecting and displaying portraits of both family and nobility was considered a marker of high status. The popularity of portraiture in Restoration England increased under King Charles II's efforts to resuscitate the arts upon his return to the throne. Her influence from Lely and the various social connections maintained by her and Charles, along with the contemporary artistic attitude were all reasons why Mary Beale was such a prolific portraitist. Over her long career she was patronized by Noblemen, Aristocrats, Clergymen, and Royalist Fellows alike.

Notable commissions

 * Lady Leigh as a Shepherdess c. 1676
 * Portraits of Colonel Giles Strangways and his family
 * Mrs. James Long Nee Susanna Strangways, 1672
 * Mrs. Thomas Strangeways nee Susan Ridout c. 1675
 * Lady Godolphin c. 1675
 * Robert Viner and his wife and daughter, c. June 1672
 * Dr. William Bates, 1669-70
 * Dr. John Tillotson (need year)
 * Revrand Symon Patrick
 * Copy of Lely in 1672
 * Him and his wife in 1677
 * William Fanshawe c. 1677
 * Gilbert Burnet Bishop of Salisbury c. 1689-91
 * Edwards Stillingfleet FRS c. 1689
 * William Lloyd c. 1677 [later become bishopric od Worchester in 1699]
 * Physician Willian Croone FRS c. 1680
 * Sir Edwyn Sadlier Bt. c. 1686-7
 * Lady Sadlier c. 1686-7
 * Society Doctor John Wilkins c. 1670-72
 * Thomas Belasyse, 1st Earl Fauconberg c. 1676
 * Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle c. 1677
 * The Duchess of Newcastle c. 1676-7
 * Hon. William Pierpont (year unknown)
 * John Lowther, 1st Viscount Lonsdale c. 1677
 * George Saile 1st Marquess of Halifax c. 1674-6
 * Daniel Maithus c. 1681
 * Dr. Thomas Sydenham c. 1688
 * Lady Mary Maitland Hay c. 1680

Self and family portraits

 * Self Portrait With Her Husband  Charles and Son, Bartholomew c. 1659-60
 * Her Son, Bartholomew c. 1660
 * Self Portrait c. 1666
 * Self Portrait (her right hand resting on a painting of her two young sons) c. 1666
 * Charles Beale c. 1666
 * Self Portrait c. 1672
 * Self Portrait as Pallas Athena (has never been traced, unknown date)
 * Self Portrait as a Shepherdess c. 1675
 * Self Portrait c. 1680