Charles I at the Hunt
Anthony van Dyck
c. 1635
Charles I at the Hunt, also known under its French title Le Roi à la chasse, is an oil-on-canvas portrait of Charles I of England by Anthony van Dyck, dated to c. 1635, and now in the Louvre Museum in Paris. It depicts Charles in civilian clothing and standing next to a horse as if resting on a hunt, in a manner described by the Louvre as a "subtle compromise between gentlemanly nonchalance and regal assurance".
Van Dyck gives his naturalistic style full expression: "Charles is given a totally natural look of instinctive sovereignty, in a deliberately informal setting where he strolls so negligently that he seems at first glance nature's gentleman rather than England's King". The 266 cm by 207 cm painting depicts Charles in lighter colours to the left of the painting, standing against the darker ground and the shadowed servants and horse under a tree to the right; his dark hat prevents his face from appearing washed out by the sky.
Musée du Louvre, Paris · Image: Wikimedia Commons, public domain · Text: Wikipedia (adapted), CC BY-SA 4.0 · Read more: collections.louvre.fr
