A great Flemish painter Sir Anthony van Dyck (22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) would have celebrated his 413th birthday today.
He is most famous for his portraits of King Charles I of England and Scotland and his family and court, painted with a relaxed elegance that was to be the dominant influence on English portrait-painting for the next 150 years.
Van Dyck, considered Rubens' best pupil, also painted biblical and mythological subjects, displayed outstanding facility as a draftsman, and was an important innovator in watercolour and etching.
