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In the 18th century sculpted portraits of great men in history, called ‘worthies’, were fashionable among the British elite. Busts of King Charles I were less common than other figures. A splendid marble portrait of the King was made by French-born sculptor Louis-François Roubiliac. He ran a successful practice and was admired for his lifelike portraits. This bust, with its simplified drapery and shallow three-dimensionality, seems to have been produced in his workshop as a less costly version, or multiple, of the more finely detailed marble work.