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Charles I at the Hunt
Anthony van Dyck · Baroque & Dutch Golden Age
- Artist
- Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641)
- Date
- c. 1635
- Dimensions
- 266 x 207 cm
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- Musée du Louvre, Paris, France
This portrait shows King Charles I of England during a pause in a hunt, standing casually in a landscape, one hand on his hip, the other on a cane, while a groom holds his horse and a page waits behind.
A closer look
Van Dyck invented a new kind of royal portrait: instead of crowns and robes, the king wears an elegant silver satin doublet, a wide-brimmed hat and riding boots, and seems relaxed and natural. Yet everything conveys his superiority: he stands on a slight rise, looking down at us with cool self-assurance, and even his horse bows its head as if in reverence. The soft, silvery light and the fluid brushwork make the image of effortless aristocratic grace that defined English portraiture for two centuries.