File:Charles I, 1600-49 King of Great Britain and Ireland RMG BHC2606.tiff

A full-length portrait of Charles I standing to left, with his face turned to meet the gaze of the viewer. His dark brown hair is worn shoulder-length and he wears a moustache and pointed beard. He is dressed in a red embroidered doublet and breeches embroidered with silver, and buff thigh-boots with spurs. His hands are encased in embroidered white gauntlets, his left hand at his side by his sword-hilt and his right hand resting on his stick. The crown, orb and sceptre lie on the table covered in green velvet and bordered in gold thread, on the left. The floor is paved, and in the top right hand corner, a dark green curtain lined with gold is drawn away from the pillared balustrade, through which a landscape with trees is visible.

Charles took a considerable interest in the Navy and it was his shortage of money to support it that led him to extend the levying of Ship Money to the inland towns, thus helping precipitate the Civil War. Mytens painted Charles at Greenwich in 1631, and this version is believed to have come from his studio at about the same time.

The portrait is a typical example of the work of Mytens, a Flemish artist. He was a member of a dynasty of painters, and he introduced a new elegance and grandeur to English portraiture, especially in full-lengths such as this. Inscribed 'Carolus. D.G.Mag. Britanniæ Franciæ et Hiberniæ rex fidei defensor Ætat. 31 a o. 1631'.