Van Dyck’s Charles I, King of England, from Three Angles is a rare triple-profile portrait that reduces the monarch to a sculptural effigy — a head-and-shoulders study shown in left profile, frontal view, and right profile — created as a model for the sculptor Bernini, who was to carve a marble bust of the king without ever meeting him ^[1]. The composition was so admired that it was reproduced in print by multiple engravers, and the Harvard Art Museums example, a 17th-century etching and engraving, preserves the design in a graphic medium that circulated the king’s image across Europe ^[3][4].

Commission: the Bernini bust project

Van Dyck painted the triple portrait in 1636 at the request of Charles I, who sent it to Rome so that Gian Lorenzo Bernini could carve his portrait bust without the sitter present ^[1]. The painting functioned as a working model, and the three views — left profile, full face, and right profile — were intended to give the sculptor complete information about the king’s features ^[1]. The resulting marble bust, completed in 1637, was destroyed in the Whitehall Palace fire of 1698, but Van Dyck’s painted model survives as the primary visual record of the commission ^[1].

Technique: etching and engraving after the painted model

The Harvard Art Museums impression is an etching and engraving on paper, a reproductive print made in the 17th century after Van Dyck’s original painting ^[3][4]. The National Gallery of Art catalogues a related impression as the work of Jonas Suyderhoff after Pieter Claesz Soutman, after Sir Anthony van Dyck, dated to about 1650 ^[4]. The print medium allowed the triple portrait to reach a far wider audience than the unique painted panel, spreading the king’s image throughout Europe during a period of intense political crisis ^[1][4].

Iconography: the king as living sculpture

The triple-view format is unprecedented in royal portraiture and carries a deliberate iconographic message: by presenting Charles I from three angles, Van Dyck likens the living monarch to a classical bust, aligning him with the sculptural traditions of Roman emperors ^[1]. The format also emphasizes the king’s physiognomy — the pointed beard, long hair, and refined features that became the defining image of Charles I in the 1630s ^[1]. Unlike Van Dyck’s grand equestrian or state portraits, which show the king in full regalia, this work strips away costume and setting to focus entirely on the face, a choice that underscores the commission’s practical purpose as a sculptor’s model ^[1].

Provenance: the 1892 Harvard gift

The Harvard Art Museums impression entered the collection through a family bequest chain. It was owned by John Witt Randall, who bequeathed it to his sister Belinda Lull Randall; she in turn gifted it to Harvard University in 1892 ^[3]. The print is now part of the Fogg Museum collection at Harvard Art Museums ^[3].

Date	Event
17th century	Print executed in etching and engraving [3]
Before 1892	Owned by John Witt Randall [3]
1892	Gift to Harvard University from Belinda Lull Randall [3]

Related works: the Iconography series and royal portraiture

The triple portrait belongs to Van Dyck’s broader production of royal imagery in the 1630s, when he served as principal court painter to Charles I ^[1]. In the late 1620s, Van Dyck had completed his celebrated Iconography series of portrait etchings depicting artists and famous contemporaries, a project that established his mastery of the graphic medium and prepared the ground for reproductive prints after his paintings ^[1]. The Charles I, King of England, from Three Angles was itself reproduced in print by multiple engravers, including Suyderhoff and Lommelin, ensuring that the king’s image — and Van Dyck’s design — remained visible long after the original painting left England ^[3][4].

Frequently asked questions

Why was Charles I painted from three angles? The triple portrait was commissioned as a model for the sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who was to carve a marble bust of the king without ever seeing him in person; the three views gave the sculptor complete information about Charles I’s features ^[1].

Who engraved the Harvard Art Museums impression? The Harvard example is attributed to Adriaen Lommelin after Anthony van Dyck, dated to the 17th century; a closely related impression at the National Gallery of Art is catalogued as the work of Jonas Suyderhoff after Pieter Claesz Soutman, after Van Dyck ^[3][4].

What happened to the Bernini bust? The marble bust completed by Bernini in 1637 was destroyed in the Whitehall Palace fire of 1698; Van Dyck’s painted triple portrait survives as the principal visual record of the commission ^[1].