An Interview between Charles I and Oliver Cromwell
Detail from Daniel Maclise (1816-1870), An Interview between Charles I and Oliver Cromwell, 1836. Photo © National Gallery of Ireland

'An Interview between Charles I and Oliver Cromwell' by Daniel Maclise

Bliain
1836
Size
184 x 235 cm
Medium
Oil on canvas
Provenance
Purchased, 1951
Number
NGI.1208

In this imagined historical scene, the large, stern figure of English political and military leader Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) watches a tender moment between King Charles I and his children. Cromwell described himself as someone who was both too excessive in his affections and desires, and also often beset by imaginary dangers.

In the nineteenth century, Cromwell’s mental illness was diagnosed as ‘hypochondriasis’ and ascribed to ‘living in low marshy country’. There was also much evidence of his manic states, including one incident at the signing of the death warrant for King Charles I during which Cromwell and a friend began ‘inking one another’s faces like school boys’.