Charles I
1600-49
Anthony van Dyck was basically the ultimate PR manager for King Charles I, painting him as a tall, majestic ruler despite the monarch actually standing only about 5'4" in real life. In this striking Baroque portrait, the king sports a dramatic black-and-white striped sleeve, a massive white ruff collar, and the gleaming star of the Order of the Garter. Van Dyck’s elegant style didn’t just flatter the king; it basically invented the template for English aristocratic portraiture for the next century. Tragically, Charles would later lose his head in the English Civil War, making this confident, regal pose—complete with a crown resting nearby—a haunting reminder of a lost kingdom.
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