Whitehall Group
[4] Arundel was perhaps the most dedicated connoisseur of the group, whilst Hamilton may have taken an interest in art collecting simply to gain the ear of the King.
[5][4] These included William Petty, Sir Dudley Carleton, Balthazar Gerbier, Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones.
As far as paintings were concerned, they were primarily interested in acquisition of old masters, but did commission new works by outstanding contemporary artists such as Rubens and van Dyck.
His interest in art was initially stimulated by his elder brother, Henry, and his enthusiasm was subsequently encouraged by George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham.
One of his first acquisitions was Woman in a fur wrap (right) bought in a Madrid market while he and Buckingham were attempting to secure Charles's marriage to the sister of King Phillip IV.
[10] In the space of about twenty years, King Charles put together one of the largest collections of works of art in Europe, relying "on the eyes and ears of a number of agents and connoisseurs".
[4] Charles bought extensively from Italy where economic conditions meant that collection owners needed to raise money.
[11] His interest in art also resulted in him being given works by European rulers attempting to gain favour or as part of marriage negotiations.
Van Dyck's portraits, particularly those on horseback that disguised the fact that Charles was very short (less than 5 feet (1.5 m) tall), presented an authoritative and majestic image of the King.
In 1613, Arundel and his wife paid an extended visit to Italy in the company of Inigo Jones and 34 attendants (among whom was William Petty).
When Arundel died, he still possessed 700 paintings, along with large collections of sculpture, books, prints, drawings, and antique jewelry.
[14] Buckingham accompanied Charles (then Prince of Wales) to Madrid and saw first hand the Spanish King's art collection.
[21] In 1623, Hamilton accompanied his father to join Charles, Prince of Wales and Buckingham in Spain, where he saw for the first time the works of major European artists.
[9] Gerbier accompanied the then Prince of Wales and the Duke of Buckingham on their quixotic visit to Madrid attempting to marry a Spanish princess.
Gerbier took the two of them on visits to Spanish royal and noble picture collections, which awakened the interest of Charles in what could be achieved by art.
In 1640, he wrote to both the King and the Earl of Arundel announcing the death of Rubens and pointing out the opportunity this provided to acquire fine paintings.
[26] Nijs was involved in a transaction by which a collection of paintings and sculptures went via Sir Dudley Carleton to the Earl of Arundel.
[28] Petty was born at Soulby in Westmorland, and after Grammar School in Kendal, went to Christ's College, Cambridge.
[8] Charles I employed him as his agent in Venice at the sale of paintings from the collection of Bartolomeo della Nave in July 1634.
He served as an intermediary for collectors such as Pembroke, Buckingham and Arundel to whom he sent paintings by Daniel Mytens and Gerard van Honthorst.
He went to Italy in 1625, buying paintings on behalf of the King, including working with Daniel Nye to acquire the Gonzaga (Mantuan) collection.
[38] In addition to his court masques, he also received commissions from aristocratic patrons who needed to mount private festivals in honour of royal guests.
