King Charles I
1 of 335 portraits of King Charles I
© National Portrait Gallery, London
King Charles I
studio of Isaac Oliver
watercolour on vellum, circa 1616, based on a work of circa 1616
1 7/8 in. x 1 1/2 in. (48 mm x 38 mm) oval
Transferred from The British Museum, London, 1939
Primary Collection
NPG 3064
Artistback to top
- Isaac Oliver (circa 1565-1617), Miniature painter. Artist or producer associated with 73 portraits, Sitter in 5 portraits.
This portraitback to top
Shown here as a young prince, this miniature was painted after Charles's election to the Order of the Garter in 1611, aged 11. It is executed in watercolour on vellum mounted onto a playing card with a single heart on the reverse. He is shown wearing elaborate gilded armour and the blue ribbon of the Order of the Garter.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Piper, David, Catalogue of Seventeenth Century Portraits in the National Portrait Gallery, 1625-1714, 1963, p. 59
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 115
Events of 1616back to top
Current affairs
Playwright, William Shakespeare, dies in Stratford-Upon-Avon on 23rd April, after he contracted a fever. He is buried days later inside Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.James I's second son, Charles, is invested as Prince of Wales at a lavish ceremony at Whitehall.
Art and science
Poet and playwright Benjamin Jonson, is granted a royal pension effectively establishing him as the first poet laureate in all but name.Queen Anne commissions Inigo Jones to design a pavilion at Greenwich, the Queen's House.
International
Sir Walter Ralegh, released from prison, begins planning an expedition to Guiana in search of El Dorado. With established Spanish settlements in the area, Ralegh's expedition unsettled the court which sought lasting peace with Spain.The Catholic Church places Nicolaus Copernicus's De revolutionibus, 1543, on its list of prohibited books.
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