For the next 10 minutes we are going to be looking at Anthony van Dyck's
monumental equestrian portrait of Charles I, painted in England in the 1630s.
We're going to be looking at van Dyck's exquisite painting technique
and explore the history of the painting and how it came to be here at the National Gallery.
The painting has recently returned to our walls following major conservation treatment
undertaken here at the Gallery during which time it was cleaned, relined and restored.
To celebrate its redisplay it has been placed in this magnificent 17th century flemish style
cassetta frame with this beautiful gilded finish but before we look at the picture itself I just
wanted to take a moment to look at the picture as an object in its context of the North Galleries
here at the National Gallery which are home to our collection of Dutch and Flemish pictures.
As curators it's really important that we hang pictures that make both visual and historical
sense with the works that hang around them and so in this instance van Dyck's portrait hangs in the
context of other works by van Dyck painted in a similar period. However, it is also really important
to think about the works relationship with works beyond the confines of single gallery space
Directly opposite in another gallery hangs Rembrandt's equestrian portrait of Frederick Rihel.
Now this is a face-off, if you like, between the two leading schools of painting
in the first half of the 17th century in northern Europe. Rembrandt, a Dutch artist, painting in a
naturalistic style for a market that is driven by a mercantile elite and van Dyck, a Flemish artist,
who is basing his refined compositions on classical prototypes of previous centuries
and whose works were more popular with royal courts across Europe. So what are we looking at
when we look at this painting? At the centre of the composition we have the King on horseback embedded
in this pastoral setting. He is dressed from head to toe in armor ready for battle, his right hand
is on his baton of command and his left hand is on his reins, steadying the horse on which he sits.
Around his neck he hangs what is known as the Lesser George which is a symbol of his
status as a Knight of the Garter which was the most prestigious of chivalric orders
and so an attribute such as this is fitting for an equestrian portrait.
You'll notice that the King is small in stature and he has very lean legs. This is probably the
result of him having suffered from rickets as a young child. However the visible power and might
of the horse on which he sits means that there is nothing weak about this painting.
The horse is depicted as a wide-eyed beast with a frothing mouth and rippling muscles
but the King has him under control: his gentle touch and calm disposition
steadies and restrains the stallion who stands in this very obedient and graceful pose. Perhaps
this is a metaphor of the King's control and governance over his kingdom and his subjects or
it may simply be a way to reinforce the King's own power and van Dyck has highlighted this
beautifully, if that's the case, in the affinity between the horse's mane and the King's own hair.
Although we can almost hear a whistling wind and feel the clouds rushing across the canvas,
there is a real sense of calm and tranquility to this painting. Charles is a purveyor of peace,
shining resplendent against the stormy English skies. His waxy ruddy complexion, single drop
pearl earring and watery eyes all dazzle against these thunderous stormy clouds.
He's not wearing a crown however there is no doubting who he is. If we look to the right,
under the elm tree beneath which he sits, there hangs an ornate tablet which states 'Carolvs,
Rex Magnae, Britaniae': Charles the first King of Great Britain.
The painting is full of texture. In the lower right corner an equerry offers up
a spectacular plumed helmet which explodes with red and white feathers which van Dyck
has beautifully captured as reflected in the hard metal surface of the helmet and then these
colours are picked up again in the rather formulaic application of paint in the sleeve of the equerry.
This contrast between hard and soft is picked up again in the figure of the King: The hard metal
armor which reflects the light of the sky is set against this soft and velvety saddle cloth which
glints blue and red. Although there are these contrasts between hard and soft in the painting
there is also a real synergy between the natural elements. Notice how the clouds are echoed by the
leaves of the tree or how the horse's mane is in dialogue with this lone tree in the distance.
The foreground of the painting is much sketchier than the rest of the composition
and we can just about make out a low bow from the tree appearing beneath the horse's belly.
You can also see some earlier marks by van Dyck which show how he's
adjusted the position of the horse's front right hoof. Van Dyck was born and trained in Antwerp
and he comes to England for the first time as a young man for just a few months in the 1620s.
He returns again in 1632 and it's then that he stays here for the rest of his life. Shortly after
his arrival he is appointed court painter and he's knighted here in London at St James's Palace.
What I find most striking about this painting is van Dyck's decision to place his ruler on
horseback, which is a tradition that stretches right back to antiquity,
not beneath a triumphal arch and against swathes of drapery but rather in the English countryside.
Van Dyck wasn't the only 17th century artist to come to England and to be inspired by the English
landscape and the National Gallery are lucky enough to have two examples of these works in
its collection: Rubens's is 'Peace and War', which was also painted for Charles I and which shows
an allegorical narrative based in the English countryside and Orazio Gentileschi's 'Finding
of Moses' which once hung at the Queen's House of Delight in Greenwich and which shows the narrative,
not on the banks of the river Nile, but rather on the banks of the river Thames.
However, van Dyck wasn't only looking to the English countryside for his inspiration,
he was also looking at the works of other artists notably the poetic and arcadian landscapes of
the great 16th century Venetian painter Titian. We know that he admired Titian's works during
his travels in italy in the 1620s and he even owned a few works by the artist himself.
Here in London he would have had exceptional examples of work by Titian to admire, both
in the Royal collection and also in collections of other associates at Court.
To me the way the light catches the distant clouds turning them pink and gold has always reminded me
of a glimpse of Venice in the otherwise blustery English countryside. Rather appropriately this
painting hung at Hampton Court and a composition such as this would have been at home in such
a location which is surrounded by woodland and which had been used for hunting for decades.
Its sheer scale, which is over three and a half metres high, means that it probably would have served a
decorative purpose, a bit like a tapestry or a wall mural, and we think it's probably even inspired by
contemporary set designs for theatrical performances at Court known as Court masks.
It was in this very same location, Hampton Court Palace, that Charles I was
imprisoned following his defeat in the bloody Civil War. He escaped, he was recaptured, tried,
found guilty of high treason and executed outside Banqueting House on the 30 of January 1649.
By this date van Dyck himself was already interred at St Paul's Cathedral but his work continued
to have a life of its own. Following the King's death almost his entire collection was sold off
and this work fetched the highest price of any work by van Dyck, being sold for 200 pounds.
Following some turbulent years on the continent, the picture returned to England in the early
18th century where it hung at Blenheim Palace in the collection of the Dukes of Marlborough.
It was from the 8th Duke of Marlborough that the National Gallery purchased this painting in 1885
and since then it's only left the Gallery on a handful of occasions; during both World Wars
and most recently for the exhibition of the King's collection at the Royal Academy of Arts. Van Dyck's
image of Charles I has really become the image of the King much like Holbein's paintings
of Henry VIII around a century or so earlier. We only have to look at the 18th century pictures
in the National Gallery collection, notably the grand manor portraits by artists such as
Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds to see the enormous impact he had in this country.
Van Dyck's innovative approach was not only instrumental in projecting this
all-powerful image of Charles I as a ruler but it was also pivotal in the development
of portrait painting in Britain.
If you'd like to learn more about art history, click here or here.
Thank you so much for watching and we'll see you next time.