The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 24, 2024

Portrait of King Charles II of England

Portrait of King Charles II of England

1653
(French, 1602–1674)
Framed: 182 x 141 x 15 cm (71 5/8 x 55 1/2 x 5 7/8 in.); Unframed: 129.5 x 97.2 cm (51 x 38 1/4 in.)

Did You Know?

Charles is wearing a typical French cuirassier's armor. Meant for cavalry, the style indicates it was made around 1630 and was likely a gift as Charles would have been an infant at the time it was created.

Description

Charles II (1630–1685) fled England in 1651 during the English civil war and commissioned this portrait during his exile in France. Charles II never fought on the battlefield, but he was the last British monarch to wear a full suit of armor, which represented his rank and status. The king gestures to the sea beyond the Dover cliffs, and the waiting fleet reveals his intention to return to England, which he did in 1660.
  • Jules Feral (sale: Paris, Hotel Drouot, May 30, 1903, as portrait of James II by Lely); [E. Gimpel and Wildenstein, New York]; Stanley Mortimer, New York (sale: Parke-Bernet, December 2, 1944, no. 85, illus. p. 57); [Duveen Brothers, Inc., New York]. The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Fund, 1959.
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, “17th Century French Painting Acquired by the Cleveland Museum of Art,” April 2, 1959, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 118 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 118 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 171 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Mentioned: p. 57-59; Reproduced: p. 58
    Fliegel, Stephen N. "An English Pikeman's Armor from the Severance Collection." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 81, no. 7 (1994): 252-67. Reproduced: p. 262; Mentioned: p. 262-63, 267 www.jstor.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 189
    Fils, Nathan. "Phillipe de Champaigne (French, 1602-1674) King Charles II of England, 1653." In The Paston Treasure: Microcosm of the Known World. Andrew Moore, et al, 518-519. New Haven : Yale Center for British Art ; Norwich : Norfolk Museums Service ; New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, 2018. Mentioned: p. 518; Reproduced: p. 519
    Dobson, Chris. Beaten Black and Blue: The Myth of the Medieval Knight in Shining Armour. Sant'Albano Stura, Italy: Chris Dobson, 2023. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 43, fig. 40
  • The Paston Treasure: Microcosm of the Known World. Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT (organizer) (February 15-May 27, 2018).
    Real Prints: Reproduction or Invention. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 7-May 17, 1987).
    Pittsburg, Carnegie Insitute, 1951: "French Painting 1100-1900," cat. no. 68, illus.
    Paris, Orangerie des Tuilleries, 1952: "Philippe de Champaigne," cat. no. 28 (incorrectly gives duke as Grafton as ex collection).
    Ghent, Museum of Fine Arts, 1952: "Philippe de Champaigne," cat. no. 28, illus. p. 16.
    New York, Duvee Brothers, 1952: "French Art in Painting and Sculpture of the Eighteenth Century," cat. no. 7.
    CMA Dec. 1959: "Year in Review," Bull., p. 230.
    Raleigh, North Carolina Museum of Art, 1963: "Carolina Charter Tercentenary Exhibition," cat. no. 64, pl. 64, repr. color on cover.
    Musée de Bordeaux, France 1966: "La Peinture Française dans les Collections Américaines," cat. no. 5, illus.
    Ottawa, The National Gallery of Canada, October 1967-January 1968: "The European Contribution to the Iconography of Canadian History," cat. no. 36, pl. XV (color).
    Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT (2/15/2108 – 5/27/2018): "The Paston Treasure: Microcosm of the Known World"
    A Pageant of Canada: The European Contribution to the Iconography of Canadian History. National Gallery of Canada (organizer) (October 27, 1967-January 19, 1968).
    La Peinture Francaise dans les Collections Americaines. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux, F-33000 Bordeaux, France (organizer) (May 13-September 15, 1966).
    Style, Truth and the Portrait. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 1-November 19, 1963).
    Carolina Charter Tercentenary Exhibition. North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC (organizer) (March 23-April 28, 1963).
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of King Charles II of England|url=false|author=Philippe de Champaigne|year=1653|access-date=24 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1959.38