LE ROI À LA CHASSE

(Portrait of Charles I) (1635; Paris, Louvre)

This portrait ofCharles Iof England was painted byAnthony van Dyckand represents a major innovation in the history of portraiture as it shows the king in an informal, leisurely moment. He wears hunting attire and stands in profile, his head turning toward the viewer, his left arm akimbo, and his elbow jutting forward. The set isVenetianized, with a landscape inspired by Titian's portraitCharles Von Horseback(1548; Prado, Madrid). Though the scene is informal, the king's status is nevertheless stressed. His costume is of silk and lace, his activity that of an aristocrat, his face with a melancholic expression—then considered the attribute of men who are well above all others — and his horse bowing to him in reverence.