King Charles II (1630-1685), English Restoration monarch who fought for the Crown during the English Civil Wars. Close detail of engraving, published in 1650, by William Faithorne the Elder (1616-1691). Faithorne was a royalist and, like all royalists, believed Charles II to be king immediately upon the execution of Charles’s father, King Charles I, in 1649. Charles II, the ‘Merry Monarch’, was restored to the throne in 1660 and his reign is associated with a period of joyfulness.
This is a detail from a high-resolution scan from an original antique engraving published in 1650 of the English Stuart monarch King Charles II (1630-1685), by the English antiquarian and engraver, William Faithorne the Elder (1616-1691). King Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, following the English Civil Wars (also known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the Great Rebellion), the execution of his father King Charles I in January 1649, and a period of exile in France during the creation of a republic, commonwealth or protectorate under Oliver Cromwell in Charles' erstwhile kingdom. The reign of King Charles II is associated with a period of joyfulness and excess. William Faithorne the Elder, a pupil of the painter Robert Peake the Elder and of the engraver John Payne, was captured during the English Civil War, imprisoned and exiled to France. Returning to London in 1650, he became a print seller, printer and engraver. In addition to portrait drawings, he published his maps of London, Virginia and Maryland. This engraving, dated 1650, obviously predates Charles II's Restoration in 1660. However, as far as royalists were concerned (and Faithorne was a royalist), King Charles ascended to the throne on his father's death in 1649.
Size: 4224px × 4224px
Location: Against plain background
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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