Charles I: King and Collector

From Titian to Rembrandt, King Charles I owned one of the most stupendous art collections ever assembled

During his reign, King Charles I (1600–1649) came to own one of the most stupendous art collections ever assembled. Indeed, by the time of his death, it contained some 2,000 paintings and sculptures, including Renaissance masterpieces, modern portraiture and ancient busts.

Charles I: King and Collector explores the origins of this extraordinary collection, the way it was assembled and what it came to represent. Authoritative essays provide a revealing historical context for the formation of the King’s taste. They analyze key areas of the collection, such as Italian Renaissance art, and how the paintings that Charles collected influenced the contemporary artists he commissioned.

Following Charles’s execution, the treasures of his collection were sold and scattered across Europe. This book, which accompanies a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition in London, reunites its most important works in sumptuous detail. Featuring paintings by Van Dyck, Rubens, Titian, Holbein, Mantegna and Rembrandt, among many others, this striking publication offers a unique insight into this fabled collection.