A full length portrait of Villiers to the right. He is in white brocade and white silk hose and wears the Garter. He stands on a silk Turk rug in front of rich silk drapes, and his hat rests on a covered table. It is likely that Villiers is shown as Lord High Admiral a role in which he succeeded the Earl of Nottingham in 1619. Buckingham was the favourite of James I and a close friend and adviser to Charles I. As Lord High Admiral he brought about improved conditions in the navy but his impetuousness at home and abroad widened the rift between the king and parliament. While at Portsmouth preparing for a second attempt to relieve the besieged Huguenots at La Rochelle Buckingham was murdered by a dissaffected naval officer.

The painting is inscribed ‘Villiers Duke of Buckingham. Van Dyke Pinx’ and the original of this portrait was painted in 1626.