Equestrian Portrait of Charles I

Equestrian Portrait of Charles I
Artist	Anthony van Dyck
Year	c. 1637–38
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	367 cm × 292.1 cm (144 in × 115.0 in)
Location	National Gallery, London

The Equestrian Portrait of Charles I (also known as Charles I on Horseback) is an oil painting on canvas by Anthony van Dyck, showing Charles I on horseback. Charles I had become King of Great Britain and Ireland in 1625 on the death of his father James I, and Van Dyck became the Charles' Principal Painter in Ordinary in 1632.

The portrait is thought to have been painted in about 1637–38, only a few years before the English Civil War broke out in 1642. It is one of many portraits of Charles by Van Dyck, including several equestrian portraits.

It is held by the National Gallery, London.

This is the second equestrian portrait of Charles to be painted by Van Dyck. Charles is depicted wearing the same suit of armour, riding a heavily muscled dun horse with peculiarly small head. To the right, a page proffers a helmet. Charles appears as a heroic philosopher king, contemplatively surveying his domain, carrying a baton of command, with a long sword to his side, and wearing the medallion of the Sovereign of the Order of the Garter. His melancholy, distant expression was seen as a sign of wisdom. He wears the same suit of tilt armour in both equestrian paintings (although the last Royal tilt had been held in 1616, and another proposed in 1622 had been abandoned due to bad weather). A tablet tied to a branch reads CAROLUS I REX MAGNAE BRITANIAE (Charles I King of Great Britain) – a political statement at the time, only 33 years after James had united the crowns of Scotland and England, and proclaimed himself King of Great Britain, and nearly 70 years before the Acts of Union legally created the Kingdom of Great Britain.

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