Charles Stuart wasn’t born to be King. Although his father was King James I of Great Britain, he had a popular older brother, Henry, who was the heir apparent. Henry’s sudden death, aged 18, made the quiet and unassuming Charles the unexpected new heir.

Charles was crowned King in 1625. Convinced of his divine right to rule over his subjects, he enraged his ministers by refusing to listen to their counsel and dissolved Parliament four years into his reign. This left him with limited ways to raise funds for his treasury – an awkward position to be in, for a warmongering King with a taste for expensive clothing, furniture and of course, art. During his reign, he put together one of the most extraordinary art collections of his age, unprecedented in England. The collection has now been reunited for the first time in our exhibition Charles I: King and Collector.

Charles made it through 17 years of increasingly unpopular and authoritarian rule before the official outbreak of Civil War. Needing money to fight uprisings in Ireland and Scotland, he reconvened Parliament, only to be presented with the “Grand Remonstrance”, a lengthy list of grievances from his ministers. After his attempt to arrest the ringleaders failed, Charles declared war on Parliament.

After more than seven years of fighting, Charles’s last allies were defeated and he was charged with, and found guilty of, high treason. He was beheaded outside the Banqueting House at Whitehall Palace on 30 January 1649. His beloved art collection was dispersed at the “Sale of the Late King’s Goods”, organised by the new leader Oliver Cromwell to raise funds and pay off Charles’s debts.

^{Anthony van Dyck, Charles I in the Hunting Field, c.1635, 266 x 207 cm. Oil on canvas.
Paris, Louvre Museum, Department of Paintings. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre). Christian Jean.}

George Villiers enjoyed a meteoric rise through court society after attracting the eye of Charles’s father, James I, in 1614. By the age of 27, he had been promoted to Duke of Buckingham and was the King’s most trusted confidant. Persistent gossip about their relationship pushed James to publicly defend their closeness, telling councillors, “Christ had his John, and I have my George”.

An expert courtier, Villiers also befriended the future Charles I, securing his place at court after James’s death in 1625. Villiers was influential in developing Charles I’s love of art; the Duke had an extensive collection of his own and even attempted – unsuccessfully – to charm the French royal family into selling him the Mona Lisa.

Gifted at winning over monarchs and nobles, Buckingham inevitably also made several enemies on his way to the top. Just two years after Charles married Henrietta Maria to secure peace between England and France, war broke out. Buckingham led the English forces against France and Spain at La Rochelle, but was defeated. On returning to England to rally his troops, he was assassinated by a disgruntled soldier. He left behind two young sons, who were raised in the royal nursery with the King’s children.

^{Peter Paul Rubens, George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, on Horseback, 1625. Oil on panel, 46.6 x 51.7 cm.
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, inv. AP 1976.08. Photo © Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas}

Appointed “principalle Paynter in Ordenarie to their Majesties” at the Stuart Court in 1632, Anthony van Dyck is responsible for producing the most iconic images of Charles I, his family and their inner circle, many of which are now on display in the Royal Academy galleries.

Born in Antwerp in 1599, Van Dyck was a teen prodigy who blossomed as an assistant to his celebrated compatriot, Peter Paul Rubens. Following a brief trip to England in 1620, he spent six years in Italy and became captivated by the work of Titian, filling a sketchbook with a number of drawings after paintings by the 16th-century master. He established a reputation as the leading portraitist of his day, winning commissions from aristocrats across Europe.

Determined to tempt Van Dyck to his court, Charles welcomed the artist with a knighthood, a generous salary and a studio at Blackfriars. Van Dyck’s paintings were received with much praise by the British nobility, but he remained restless, travelling to Antwerp and Paris in search of alternative opportunities. He fell ill in 1641 and died in London that December, just before the outbreak of Civil War.

^{Anthony van Dyck, Anthony van Dyck, c.1640. Oil on canvas, 56 x 46 cm.
National Portrait Gallery, London. Purchased with help from the Art Fund, 1965. Photo © National Portrait Gallery, London.}

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