ABSTRACT
After the execution of Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, as head of state, received his grandest guests beneath a ceiling decorated with enormous paintings which had been commissioned by the king to celebrate the benefits of the government of his father James I and, by extension, the virtues of monarchical rule in general. Cromwell's hall of audience was the Banqueting House of Whitehall Palace, where the ceiling illustrates The Benefits of James Vs Government, The Apotheosis of James I (Figure 3.1) and The Union of England and Scotland, flanked by virtues vanquishing vices and parades of joyful putti with emblems of peace and plenty.1 King James is the focus of all three main canvases. It may seem strange that such images should have been allowed to remain in the changed political circumstances of the Common wealth. It has been suggested that the height of the ceiling may have helped save the paintings at this time.2 As the room is more than 50 feet high they are not easily accessible, but a similar height proved no obstacle in the case of the the removal of statues of James I and Charles I, more than 50 feet up on top of the west portico of old St Paul's Cathedral. In the summer of 1650, by order of Cromwell's Parliament, they were torn down from their pedestals and smashed.3 The fact that the canvases are by Rubens is more likely to have been a significant factor. Parliament was well aware of the commercial value of the work of such a respected painter. Despite a great deal of public rhetoric about the requirement to eradicate images of the 'late King', the new authorities were quite prepared to make money for the state by selling portraits of Charles I from the royal collection by expensive modern artists such as Van Dyck or Bernini.4
