_-_Sketch_of_Charles_I_and_Queen_Henrietta_Maria_with_their_two_eldest_children%2C_Prince_Charles_and_Princess_Mary_-_RCIN_408584_-_Royal_Collection.jpg&width=1200)
Sketch of Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria with their two eldest children, Prince Charles and Princess Mary
Anthony van Dyck·1632
Historical Context
Sketch of Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria with Their Two Eldest Children (c. 1632), in the Royal Collection, is a preparatory study for a larger royal family portrait. The sketch captures the king and queen with Prince Charles and Princess Mary in an informal arrangement that reveals Van Dyck's compositional thinking process. Such preparatory works provide invaluable insight into the artist's working methods, showing how he developed the formal arrangements of his finished portraits through fluid, experimental sketches. The Royal Collection's holding of both preparatory studies and finished portraits by Van Dyck creates an unusually complete record of the artist's creative process at the service of the Stuart court.
Technical Analysis
This work demonstrates Anthony van Dyck's command of Baroque-period painting techniques.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the fluid, experimental arrangement revealing Van Dyck's compositional thinking process as preparatory study.
- ◆Look at the informal sketch capturing the royal family before the finished portrait's formal arrangement at the Royal Collection.
- ◆Observe invaluable insight into Van Dyck's working methods — developing formal portraits through spontaneous sketches.
