About the Portrait

T

he painter Daniel Mijtens (1590-1647) was a Dutch painter of Flemish origin (Fig. 1). As art historian Rudolf Ekkart explains, he began his training in The Hague in the Netherlands, where he lived from an early age. In 1610 he joined a group of painters in The Hague. By August 1618, Mijtens began working in England where he painted portraits. Within only a few years of working in England, Mijtens had won the approval of both King James I and his son Charles, Prince of Wales (Fig. 2). In 1624 King James I granted Mijtens an annuity, which was later increased by Charles I in 1625. According to Oxford Art Online, “for most of the 1620s and in the early 1630s Mijtens was the leading court artist, as is evident from the numerous payments he received for portraits of the King or people connected with the court and for the many copies he made after the work of other artists.” It was during this time that Mijtens painted Charles I, King of England, 1629.

Charles I was born on November 19, 1600; he was the second son of James VI of Scotland. In 1603, Queen Elizabeth I passed away making James King of England and Ireland. Henry, Charles’ older brother, died in 1612 leaving Charles as the heir to the throne. It was not until 1625 that Charles I became King. Three months into his reign he married Henrietta Maria of France. They had a happy marriage and had five surviving children. The reign of Charles I is commonly associated with his conflicts with Parliament that led to civil war and eventually his execution. Due to his powerful position and elite status as King of England, there are many surviving portraits of Charles I, including multiple portraits painted by Daniel Mijtens (Figs. 2-5). A small replica of this portrait, but at half-length was also painted by Mijtens, who changed only the background (Fig. 2).

Daniel Mijtens (Dutch, 1590–1647/48). Charles I (1600-1649), King of England, 1629. Oil on canvas; 78 7/8 x 55 3/8 in. (200.3 x 140.7 cm). New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1906.06.1289. Gift of George A. Hearn. Source: The Met

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ing Charles I is painted wearing a doublet, a man’s short close-fitting padded jacket commonly worn from the 14th century to the 17th century. This is paired with cloak-bag breeches, which are commonly described as short trousers fastened just below the knee. Charles I accessorizes his outfit with falling ruff, leather boots and gloves.

The doublet displayed in the portrait is made of orange silk with “winged” sleeves, otherwise known as epaulets, that project over the ends of the shoulders giving them a broader, masculine outline with something of a military appearance (Davis 9). The sleeves are full and paned from shoulder to elbow, then closed by buttons up the back seam; similar doublets are seen in figures 3-6. The panes reveal the white of his shirt. The doublet is decorated with four to six long panes down the breast, front and back. The skirt attached to the doublet consists of deeper tabs curving down to a sharp point in the front. The two central tabs meet edge to edge. Lastly the doublet has a close row of buttons from the top of the collar to the waist, leaving the skirt unfastened.

Paired with the doublet, Charles I wears cloak-bag breeches. Cloak bag breeches are full and oval, gathering at the waist and above the knees. They are fringed with ribbon points. As fashion historians Willet and Phillis Cunnington note in their Handbook of English Costume in the Seventeenth Century (1955):

“from 1628-1635 a similar style was worn but closed just below the knee and there fastened on the outside by a ribbon rosette, or by sash garters tied in large bows. The legs were often trimmed down the outside with a vertical row of buttons and buttonholes, the lower ones sometimes being left undone to show the lining, often of linen.” (49)

Charles I wears leather rounded cup-topped boots pushed down; the same boots are seen in Figure 4. As the Cunningtons note: “The shape of the toe, in boots and shoes was rounded until c. 1635” (54). Attached to the boots, crossing the ankles in the front are spurs; indeed, “boots with spurs became fashionable for walking, from 1610 to 1660 and formed part of a gentleman’s outdoor wear” (Cunnington 57). Under the boots, Charles I wears linen white stockings.

On his hands Charles I wears gloves with embroidered gauntlets; as the Cunningtons explain, “gauntlets are made up of 6 to 8 inch sections, ending above the wrist in tabs or scallops. When embroidered this was usually done on white satin and applied.” (74)  A surviving, less-elaborate pair of leather gloves with gauntlets embroidered in white silk can be seen in figure 7.

For his collar Charles I has a falling ruff. The falling ruff droops like petals of a fading flower. It is made up of several layers of linen or lawn, and usually edged with lace and gathered without formal sets. It was sewn onto a high neckband from which it sloped down to the shoulders. It was closed all around and tied by band-strings usually connected.

The cloak-bag breeches are cut full in the hips and thighs, with a moderate padding to accentuate the shape of the hips; Charles wears similar breeches in figures 3-4.