Portrait of King James gifted to Borough of King’s Lynn in 1698

In their fortnightly Picture This column, staff at Lynn Museum discuss a portrait gifted to the town...

King James was King of Scotland as James VI from 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from 1603 until his death in 1625.

When James ascended the English throne William Shakespeare’s acting company became the King’s Men under his royal patronage.

Shakespeare tailored the themes in his plays to the King’s tastes. Macbeth, written around 1606, is an example of this.

The play is set in Scotland and also features witches, a subject which the King was very interested in, having written his own treatise on the subject Daemonologie (1597).

The portrait is thought to have been gifted to the Borough of King’s Lynn in 1698.