London, Part One: National Galleries

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A few days in town tramping the tourist trail made me wonder what does our capital have to show us about the Civil Wars?

I shall start by looking at the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and the immediate vicinity.

First let's look at the National Gallery: this is a wonderful resource for researching clothing colours, you can see my thoughts and research here.

The National Gallery has a large collection of Van Dyck's portraits. The National gallery has undergone several reorganisations since I first wrote this entry. Van Dyck's portraits are located in Room 21, 

Currently there are a number of Van Dyck's portraits of the extended royal family on display, including:

Prince Rupert


The Stuart Brothers

The iconic equestrian portrait of Charles I is located separately alongside a portrait of his wife, and a number of paintings from his art collection. (Room 30?)


Henrietta Maria

The National Portrait Gallery has a whole gallery devoted to the Civil War (and a better café too).

The stand out artworks are:

Bronze bust of Black Tom

King Charles

Cromwell

Charles and Sir Edward Walker

The Capel Family

Immediately outside the National Gallery,  looking down Whitehall is an equestrian statue of Charles I. This statue was supposed to have been destroyed by order of Parliament; the metalsmith instructed to break it up instead hiding it until the Restoration, when it was installed upon the site of the Charing Cross, the traditional centre of London.


A short walk down Whitehall, past the throngs queuing to take a picture of the horse guard sentries is Banqueting House.

Little is visible of how Banqueting House would have been when Charles exited it for an appointment with an executioner. Commissioned by James I, Banqueting House has been remodelled to keep abreast of architectural fashion, one of the few remaining original features is the main ceiling painted by Rubens for Charles.

Ruben's ceiling, best viewed from a beanbag on the floor.

Above the visitors' entrance is a memorial marking Charles's execution. 


Opposite this bust is the archway to Horse Guards Parade. On the arch is a clock; there is a black mark next to two o'clock (marked '10'), which, so the story goes, is there to commemorate the time of Charles's execution.

As you climb the stairs to enter the Banqueting Hall, you are faced by a full length portrait of Charles. This portrait is located at the site of a former window, from which Charles exited the building to his execution scaffold.

The English Civil War Society (King's Army) march from St James Palace to the Banqueting House on the last Sunday in January, to commemorate Charles's execution. The parade assembles at 11am outside St James Palace on the Mall. More details can be found here. My photos of the 2019 commemoration can be seen here.

Lots more for the London Civil War tourist can be found here.

Postcodes for SatNavs/mapping Apps, and Tube Station
National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place WC2H 0HE, Charing Cross or Piccadilly Circus
National Gallery, Trafalgar Square WC2N 5DN, Charing Cross or Leicester Square
Banqueting House, Whitehall SW1A 2ER,  Charing Cross



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