Charles I
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Charles I (r. 1625-49) was a poor statesman whose deep belief in the divine right of kings was adhered to with a stubbornness that eventually led him to the scaffold. His single greatest accomplishment, his art collection, was assembled in the service of that ideal notion of kingship and it was not allowed to stand as his memorial. Charles managed the kingdom badly, was a poor diplomat and politician, provided unsound leadership, and refused to recognize the implacable nature of changes in society. The arena in which he did excel was that of display. Despite the rebellions, the civil wars, the foreign wars, the struggles with Parliament, and, most of all, the stricken economy, Charles' reign was marked by splendid entertainments, costly show, and the assembling of one of the finest art collections in Europe. When added to the perception of Charles' popish tendencies, his Catholic wife, his intransigence and mismanagement, and the harsh economic times the expenditure of substantial amounts for such frivolous purposes added fuel to the flames of opposition. Charles, who was a connoisseur as well as a spendthrift, managed to assemble, in a very short time, a collection of High Renaissance, antique, and Baroque art that surpassed every collection in overall quality. Despite the breakup of the collection a great deal is known about its contents because Charles had employed what was, in effect, the first curator and because the records of the Commonwealth sale have survived
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unched on his career as a patron--a career most impressively fulfilled by his important sponsorship of Rubens' brilliant pupil Van Dyck. But Charles was usually guided by older collectors. Both Rubens and Van Dyck, for instance, had been extensively employed by both Lord and Lady Arundel "well before being taken up by the King" (Haskell 206).
Although by 1621 the Prince of Wales was reputed to possess a fine collection and a particular taste for High Renaissance Venetian painting, it is unlikely that his love of Venetian works had been "matched by the opportunity to possess them" (Haskell 210). This was to change in 1623 when the Prince of Wales and Buckingham embarked on what Sutton calls their "madcap visit to Madrid" which, traveling incognito and unannounced, they undertook in an effort to secure the hand of the Infanta Maria, sister of Philip IV of Spain, for the future king (294). Philip had what was, at the time, the finest collection of paintings in Europe. Informed of the guests' interest in art and collecting a special committee was formed to escort them through various collections during their five-month visit. On these tours the Prince "attempted, with varying degrees of success, to acquire works of art" (Schro
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Approximate Word count = 2991
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)
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