At 2pm on Tuesday 30th January 1649, King Charles I stepped out of London’s Banqueting House, and onto the scaffold. ‘I shall go from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown,’ he said, as he put his head on the block. The executioner swung his axe, and England became a Commonwealth.

He spent a huge amount of money – it was hugely political... and parliament wasn’t too keen because they needed money for wars. Per Rumberg, curator

Charles’s ardent belief in the supremacy of the monarchy over parliament ignited the English Civil War, resulting in 300,000 deaths – 6% of the population. As a monarch, he was a disaster – but he had great taste in art.

He left behind the finest art collection ever assembled by a British monarch, and now London’s Royal Academy has reunited the greatest hits of his collection. ‘This is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion when we can show them together,’ says Per Rumberg, co-curator of this extraordinary exhibition.

Charles’s interest in art began in 1623, when he went to Madrid to court Maria Anna, daughter of King Philip III of Spain. The engagement was broken off after fierce opposition from English Protestants, who feared this betrothal would give Europe’s strongest Catholic dynasty control of the English Crown.

Yet while he was in Spain, Charles saw the glories of its royal art collection. ‘He was mightily impressed,’ says Rumberg. Charles came home without a bride, but with paintings by Titian and Veronese, and a burning ambition to acquire a great art collection of his own.

When Charles became King, in 1625, he set about assembling a collection to rival the one he’d seen in Spain. None of his predecessors had collected much – he had a lot of catching up to do. Over twenty years, he amassed 2000 artworks. ‘He spent a huge amount of money – it was hugely political’ says Rumberg. ‘It had to be funded, and signed off by parliament, and parliament wasn’t too keen because they needed money for wars.’