Portrait Of James I Of England And VI Of Scotland

Portrait of James I of England and VI of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1566 - London, 1625)
Circle of Daniel Mytens (1590 - 1647)
Oil on canvas (65 x 49 cm. - Framed 86 x 70 cm.)

We are pleased to present this portrait from the circle of Daniel Mytens, executed in the 17th century, depicting the King of England and Ireland James I Stuart (1566-1625), crowned King of Scotland as James VI in 1567, after the abdication of his mother.

He was therefore the first monarch of all the British Isles, having unified the crowns of England, Scotland and Ireland, with a long-lived and prolific reign. Considered one of the most cultured monarchs of both England and Scotland, during his reign he continued the extraordinary cultural flowering of the Elizabethan age in literature, the arts and the sciences.

Portrayed half-length, he wears an elegant black hat adorned with a jewelled brooch and a fur cloak over a black robe, from which the medallion of the Order of the Garter stands out.

The work can be compared with the canvas in Blickling Hall, The Lothian Collection (National Trust)

Daniel Mytens was one of the many painters of Flemish and Dutch origin active at the English royal court during the reigns of James I of England and Charles I of England, together with other famous names such as Arnold Bronckorst, John de Critz, Adrian Vanson, Alonso Sánchez Coello or Paul van Somer.

Alongside them was a second group of painters who, outside the narrow royal circle, devoted themselves to portraiture for the English aristocracy, often eager to have the effigy of the monarch for their residences as a clear sign of loyalty to the sovereign dynasty.