The Somerset House Conference

What it is

This is an oil painting in the National Portrait Gallery, London, showing about eleven representatives of England, Spain and the Spanish Netherlands seated around a long table during the Somerset House Conference of 1604. The men wear dark dress and white lace ruffs, and a paper and quill lie on a red patterned cloth. Tapestries and a leaded window appear behind them. A second version is at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. The signature on both versions is attributed to Juan Pantoja de la Cruz, but the date 1594 on the NPG version is clearly inaccurate, and the painter is now thought to be unidentified, possibly a Flemish artist or workshop.

Why it matters

The conference was held between May and July 1604 to end the Anglo-Spanish War, and the treaty was signed in August. The English delegation was led by Thomas Sackville, with Robert Cecil, James's leading minister, among its members. The painting is a record of James's foreign policy, but it may be an idealised view from the Spanish side rather than an exact record of the meeting.

Look closer

• Who is placed at the centre of the table, and how does the arrangement of seats show rank?
• What do the tapestries on the walls show, and why might they have been included?
• Since the artist and date are uncertain, what does this uncertainty mean for how we trust the picture?