Daniel Mytens was one of numerous Dutch painters who were attracted to work in England by the wealth of the court of King Charles I. John Ashburnham, an English Royalist, was a close confidant of King Charles I during the Civil War. After Charles I’s escape from Cromwell’s army in 1647, Ashburnham advised the king to flee to the Isle of Wight, where he was betrayed by the Isle’s governor, Robert Hammond. This bad counsel – which led ultimately to Charles I’s execution – as well as Ashburnham’s offer to kill Hammond in revenge, aroused the suspicions of Royalists and Cromwellians alike.