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Why did Anthony van Dyck paint three views of King Charles I’s face?
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Anthony van Dyck
Self-Portrait, oil on canvas by Anthony Van Dyck, c. 1620–21; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. 119.7 × 87.9 cm.
Anthony van Dyck painted three views of King Charles I’s face (1635–36) to serve as a reference for a bust to be created by the sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Unfortunately, the resulting sculpture was later destroyed in a fire in 1698.1