The Fallen Monarch

Analysing the last portrait of King Charles I

Artist Edward Bower, whose main patrons were Parliamentarians, was commissioned to create this portrait of King Charles I. It is likely that he made drawings of the king inside Westminster Hall before producing several portraits in his studio. A sympathetic portrait, many people chose to see it as representing Charles’ martyrdom rather than the culmination of the legal process which led to his execution. Interestingly, when Charles II made his entry into London after the Restoration in 1660, Bower was appointed to ride in attendance.