查理一世的三个年长子女

Anthony van Dyck painted these three royal children over the winter of 1635 into 1636, the future Charles II standing at the centre, his sister Mary beside him, and the baby who would grow up to be James II. There is a small court drama behind the picture. An earlier version had shown Prince Charles in the skirts that little boys still wore, and his father, Charles I, was not pleased to see his heir dressed as an infant. So Van Dyck did it over, this time putting the young prince in grown-up breeches, his hand resting with new gravity on the head of a large spaniel. Two of the King Charles spaniels that carry the family name share the scene. Within 13 years the father would be executed by Parliament, and the boy in breeches would be a king in exile.