Charles Beale
- Artist: Mary Beale
- Date: c.1680–5
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 1268 x 1029 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
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About this artwork
This is “Charles Beale” by Mary Beale, painted around 1680‑85. The oil on canvas shows her husband standing tall against a dark backdrop, draped in a silk brocade gown that signals his aspiration to be a learned virtuoso. He rests a hand on a large leather‑bound volume – a gesture that hints at his role as the practical manager of their studio in Pall Mall from 1671.
Mary, the first British professional woman portraitist, often used family members as models, and Charles kept detailed notebooks recording both her painting sessions and their own commissions. He prepared canvases, mixed expensive pigments like red lake and ultramarine, and even wrote the recipes for varnishes. In his notes he proudly documents the time Mary devoted to his portrait, sometimes using special Indian lake paint for “extraordinary occasions.”
The canvas itself shows a herringbone weave, suggesting an early 1680s experiment. It may have been painted alongside a near‑identical self‑portrait by Mary, both capturing a true likeness and the inner partnership that defined their artistic life.
See it in person
Charles Beale is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
