Anthony van Dyck - Charles I at the Hunt

Title: Charles I at the Hunt
Artist: Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641)
Date: c.1635
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 266 x 207 cm

Van Dyck’s painting “Charles I at the hunt” depicts the king in civilian clothing and standing next to a horse as if resting on a hunt.

Charles I looks relaxed with his half-turned posture and informal clothes, yet assuredly regal with his superior demeanor, his sword and his position on top of a hill over land and sea. His eyebrows and smile are somewhat disdainful as he is looking down on the viewer- the king was famously sensitive about his height and the painter compensated by placing the viewer at a low angle point of view. The king’s face stands out under the black hat and with the horse and servants, painted quite relatively short, are in the shade of the tree.