This miniature is derived from the head of Charles I in the double portrait of c. 1632 by Van Dyck of Charles I and Henrietta Maria in the Archbishop's Palace, Kremsier. John Hoskins worked extensively from prototypes by Van Dyck in the 1630s and the quality of the copy gives no reason to doubt that it is a work by him, although it was also attributed to his contemporary, Peter Oliver (1594?-1647), in the nineteenth century. Although it is now framed in a mid-nineteenth century gilt-metal 'Hatfield' frame, its diminutive size suggests that it may have been painted to be worn in a locket or 'picture box' on the body.