Set against the backdrop of war, revolution and regicide, and moving from London to Venice, Mantua, Madrid, Paris and the Low Countries, The Sale of the Late King's Goods explores the formation and dispersal of King Charles I's art collection, one of the finest England has ever seen. Aided by flamboyant friends, advisers and agents Charles bought many of the greatest works of Raphael, Leonardo and Dürer, commissioned portraits from Rubens and Van Dyck, and transformed the royal palaces into spectacular picture galleries. When he travelled to Madrid in 1623 in search of a wife he returned instead with a handful of exquisite Titians; a few years later he authorized the financially dubious acquisition of the spectacular collection of Mantua's bankrupt Gonzaga dynasty. Yet the king's lavish court and relentless spending was to contribute to his political downfall, civil war and, ultimately his execution in 1649. Following a remarkable and unprecedented Parliamentary Act for 'The sale of the late king's goods'. Cromwell's republican regime sold off, or gave away, a nearly 2,000 paintings, tapestries, statues and drawings in an attempt to settle the dead king's enormous debts and raise money for the Commonwealth's military forces. Jerry Brotton recreates the extraordinary circumstances of this sale, in which for the first time ordinary working people were able to handle and own works by the great masters. Voracious trading by the Spanish and French ambassadors ensured that scores of paintings left London to form the backbone of today's great collections in Paris, Madrid and Vienna, transforming the European art market as never before. When the English monarchy was restored in 1660, King Charles II ordered the repossession of many of these artworks, but despite his eagerness to settle political scores, the face of collecting had been changed for ever. The Sale of the Late King's Goods examines the abiding relationship between art and power, revealing how the current Royal Collection emerged from this turbulent period, and paints its own vivid and dramatic picture of one of the greatest lost collections in English history.