Charles I: King and Collector

During his reign, Charles I (1600–49) acquired and commissioned exceptional masterpieces, including works by Van Dyck, Rubens, and Titian. In 1623, two years prior to his ascension to the throne, Prince Charles visited Madrid. The Habsburg collection made a lasting impression on the future king and he returned to England intent on creating his own collection. By 1649, the year in which he was executed, the collection comprised of around 1,500 paintings and 500 sculptures. Shortly after his death the collection was offered for sale and dispersed across Europe. This exhibition will reunite around 150 of the most important works for the first time since the seventeenth century, providing an unprecedented opportunity to see the collection that changed the appreciation of art in England. Find out more about the ‘Charles I: King and Collector’ exhibition from the RA’s website.

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