William Dobson

William Dobson was the finest English born painter of his generation, and his portraits of Royalist officers during the Civil War are rugged, direct and full of character. Faces are strongly modelled, colours are warm and Venetian, and sitters are often shown with emblems and props that say something about them.

He was baptised in London in 1611 and learned by copying the Venetian pictures in the royal collection. After Van Dyck died in 1641 he became the leading portrait painter to the court of Charles I, which was based in Oxford during the war. He painted Prince Rupert, the Prince of Wales and many Cavaliers. His portrait of Endymion Porter is at Tate Britain.

The Painter with Sir Charles Cottrell and Sir Balthasar Gerbier, a group self portrait, shows his relaxed, natural approach. He died in Oxford in 1646, aged thirty five.