Editing William Dobson (section)

== Biography ==

[[File:William_Dobson_-_Portrait_of_the_artist_with_Nicholas_Lanier_and_Sir_Charles_Cotterell.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Portrait of the artist, William Dobson (centre), with [[Nicholas Lanier]] (left) and Sir [[Charles Cotterell]] (right), c. 1645]]
[[File:William Dobson - The Executioner with the Head of John the Baptist - Google Art Project.jpg|thumbnail|The Executioner with the Head of John the Baptist, c. 1640]]

Dobson was born in London, the son of a lawyer also called William Dobson. He was [[baptised]] at [[St Andrew Holborn (church)|St Andrew's Holborn]].<ref name="TV">[https://williamdobson.tv/biography/ Biography used for television series]. Retrieved 10 May 2021.</ref> He was apprenticed to [[William Peake]] and probably later joined the studio of [[Francis Cleyn]]. There is a claim that his father was a decorative artist, but this may be a misreading of the single known quote about Dobson Sr, by the antiquarian [[John Aubrey]], which states that William senior assisted [[Francis Bacon]] with the designs of [[Verulam House, St Albans (17th century)|Verulam House]] but "he spending his estate upon women, necessity forced his son ... to be the most excellent painter that England hath yet bred".<ref>Jones, "The King's Painter", p27</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/47787/pg47787-images.html|title='Brief Lives,' chiefly of Contemporaries, set down by John Aubrey, between the Years 1669 & 1696 EDITED FROM THE AUTHOR'S MSS. BY ANDREW CLARK M.A., LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD; M.A. AND LL.D., ST. ANDREWS WITH FACSIMILES - VOLUME I. (A-H)|location=Oxford|year=1898}}</ref>

Dobson is believed to have had access to the [[Royal Collection]] and to have copied works by [[Titian]] and [[Anthony van Dyck]], the court painter of King [[Charles I of England]]. The colour and texture of Dobson's work was influenced by [[Venetian painting]], but van Dyck's style had little apparent influence on Dobson.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.bonhams.com/magazine/21828/|title=The Full English|author=Waldemar Januszczak|author-link=Waldemar Januszczak|journal=Bonhams Magazine|issue=47|date=Summer 2016|page=29}}</ref> The story that van Dyck himself discovered Dobson when he noticed one of the young artist's pictures in a London shop window is not supported by any evidence, nor do we know how he gained his introduction to the King, who had Dobson paint himself, his sons and members of the court.

[[File:William Dobson - Endymion Porter Around 1642-5 - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|[[Endymion Porter]], c. 1642–1645]]
Little is known of Dobson's career in the 1630s, but when van Dyck died in 1641, the opportunity arose for him to gain royal commissions from King Charles. He is said to have become [[serjeant painter]] to the King and [[groom of the privy chamber]].<ref name ="DNB"/> However, this claim comes from only one old and as yet unverified source.<ref>Jones, "The King's Painter", p16.</ref> During the [[English Civil War]] Dobson was based at the [[Cavalier|Royalist]] centre of [[Oxford]] and painted many leading Cavaliers. His portrait of the future [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] as [[Prince of Wales]] at the age of around twelve is a notable [[baroque]] composition, and perhaps his finest work. He also painted at least the head of [[James II of England|Duke of York]], as well as portraits of leading Royalists such as Charles Lucas and [[John Byron, 1st Baron Byron]], [[Prince Rupert of the Rhine]] and [[Prince Maurice von Simmern|Prince Maurice]].