Painted in Oxford, the Royalist headquarters from October 1642, this portrait was left unfinished when the King left the city in 1646. It might have been completed by Jonathan Richardson. King Charles I is depicted in armour and wears the ribbon of the Garter. The small size of the canvas and the thinly painted surface may reflect the difficulty of obtaining materials during the Civil War. William Dobson was Serjeant-Painter to Charles I after the death of Van Dyck, and during the Civil War he painted many of the Royalists and royal children. After Oxford fell to the Parliamentarians in June 1646 Dobson returned to London and died in poverty.