This portrait of Charles II (1630–1685) presents the king as the head of state, wearing the robes of the Order of the Garter – the highest order of chivalry – and standing beside the royal orb and crown. It was made in the studio of Sir Godfrey Kneller, who trained under Ferdinand Bol in Amsterdam, before moving to England in c.1676. Through the employment of a large workshop of assistants, Kneller dominated British portraiture for the next forty years. He was joint Principal Painter with Riley until the latter’s death in 1691, when he assumed the post in his own right. Like the Principal Painters before him, Sir Anthony Van Dyck and Sir Peter Lely, Kneller was knighted. In 1715, he became the first painter in England to be made a baronet.¹

The picture was recorded in James Boswell’s journal of a tour to Cornwall, during a visit to Sir Christopher Hawkins: ‘Friday 31 August 1792/ At Trewithen there is a very good picture of Charles the Second by ---. It belonged to the family of Granville Lord Lansdowne after the wreck of which their house was pulled to pieces, and every thing was sold.’² Boswell’s reference was to Stowe, the Granville seat at Kilkhampton, Cornwall, built by John Granville around 1685. Granville had been created Earl of Bath by Charles II as a reward for his role in engineering the Restoration – hence his acquisition of the portrait. Stowe was pulled down in 1739 and its contents sold.³ An inventory of 1829 evidently records the portrait in the Saloon, albeit mistakenly as a portrait of Charles I.⁴ In the March 1928 inventory it was described as being on the Middle Staircase. It hangs presently in a prominent positon over the main staircase.

The portrait has gone through several changes in attribution of both artist and sitter. Previously attributed to the circle of Sir Peter Lely, the image may derive in part from Kneller’s ad vivum full-length portrait of Charles II in Garter robes (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; fig. 1).⁵ The Walker picture is signed and dated ‘Gotfred Kneller/Ad vivum fecit/Ao 1685’, and is the last portrait Kneller made of Charles II before the king’s death later that year.⁶ An ‘autograph repetition’ of the Walker picture is in the National Trust Collection at Powis Castle and another version is at Moseley Old Hall.⁷ Trewithen’s owner, Michael Galsworthy, reported to the present author that Oliver Millar, who saw the portrait briefly on a visit to the house, indicated that in his opinion it was by Kneller. While the portrait is possibly autograph, it resembles closely a studio version at Kenwood House, London (fig. 2).