Art and power of King Charles II goes on show at palace exhibition
AFTER THE austerity of Cromwell, arts were again permitted to flourish when King Charles II took to the throne.
His 25 years as monarch may be best remembered for the time of the Great Fire of London and the plague, but it was also a memorable era for creativity.
From 1660, when the decade of Oliver Cromwell’s rule came to an end, the court of Charles II became the centre for the patronage of leading artists and the collecting of great works of art.
This served not only as decoration for the Royal apartments but also as a means of glorifying the restored monarchy and reinforcing the position of Charles II as the rightful king.
From John Michael Wright’s monumental portrait of Charles II in his coronation robes and a glittering silver-gilt plate which adorned the high-altar of Westminster Abbey during the King’s coronation to old master paintings, tapestries and spectacular silver-gilt furniture, the exhibition shows the rich material world of Charles II’s court and the role of the arts in the re-establishment of the Stuart monarchy.
Now The Queen’s Gallery, in Buckingham Palace, is hosting an exhibition called Charles II: Art and Power, which runs until May.
Charles II’s father, Charles I, was executed at Whitehall in 1649 at the climax of the English Civil War. Although the Parliament of Scotland proclaimed Charles II king on 5 February 1649, England entered the period known as the English Interregnum or the English Commonwealth, and the country was in effect a republic, led by Oliver Cromwell.
Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, and Charles fled to mainland Europe. Cromwell became dictator of England, Scotland and Ireland, and Charles spent the next nine years in exile, until the monarchy was restored.
The Queen’s Gallery is a public art gallery. It exhibits works of art from the Royal Collection on a rotating basis.