25-5Anthony Van Dyck,Charles I Dismounted,ca. 1635. Oil on
canvas, 8 11 6 11 –^12 . Louvre, Paris.
Van Dyck specialized in court portraiture. In this painting, he depicted
the absolutist monarch Charles I at a sharp angle so that the king,
a short man, appears to be looking down at the viewer.
25-6Clara Peeters,Still Life with Flowers, Goblet, Dried Fruit, and Pretzels,1611. Oil on panel,
1 73 – 4 2 11 – 4 . Museo del Prado, Madrid.
Clara Peeters was a pioneer of still-life painting. Although a Flemish artist, she spent time in Holland and laid
the groundwork for many Dutch artists (FIGS. 25-21to 25-23).ANTHONY VAN DYCK Most of Rubens’s successors in Flan-
ders were at one time his assistants. The most famous of these was
Anthony Van Dyck(1599–1641). Early on, the younger man, un-
willing to be overshadowed by the master’s undisputed stature, left
his native Antwerp for Genoa and then London, where he became
court portraitist to Charles I. Although Van Dyck created dramatic
compositions of high quality, his specialty became the portrait.
He developed a courtly manner of great elegance that was influen-
tial internationally. In one of his finest works,Charles I Dismounted
(FIG. 25-5), the ill-fated Stuart king stands in a landscape with the
Thames River in the background. An equerry and a page attend him.
The portrait is a stylish image of relaxed authority, as if the king is
out for a casual ride in his park, but no one can mistake the regal
poise and the air of absolute authority that his Parliament resented
and was soon to rise against. Here, King Charles turns his back on
his attendants as he surveys his domain. The king’s placement in the
composition is exceedingly artful. He stands off-center but balances
the picture with a single keen glance at the viewer. Van Dyck even
managed to portray Charles I in a position to look down on the ob-
server. In reality, the monarch’s short stature forced him to exert his
1 ft.678 Chapter 25 NORTHERN EUROPE, 1600 TO 17001 in.