Charles I in Three Positions
This triple portrait had an unusual function as a kind of design for sculpture. In 1636 Charles I dispatched the original of this painting by Sir Anthony van Dyck to the sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini in Rome. It was to assist in the making of a marble bust. The three viewpoints were chosen to enable the sculptor to create a truly three-dimensional likeness.
The sculpture was intended as a papal present to Queen Henrietta Maria. After the bust was finished, the painting remained in the possession of Bernini and passed to his descendants. It was brought back to England in 1802 and entered the Royal Collection in 1822. The bust itself was a great success with the King and Queen. It was eventually destroyed in a fire at Whitehall Palace, London, in 1698.
