The royal family has been captured in art for generations

A Government-funded scheme is offering public authorities the chance to claim a free portrait of the King ahead of his coronation in May.

Lightness of Being, a unique work of Queen Elizabeth II, donated to Sotheby’s by Chris Levine (Sotheby’s/PA) (PA Media)

The Queen had several official royal portrait paintings commissioned during her 70-year reign and the King is set to follow in her footsteps with a portrait to commemorate his coronation.

Artists painted the late monarch to celebrate and depict various milestones during her life and reign, including her coronation on June 2 1953.

Sir Herbert James Gunn was commissioned by the Queen to capture her standing in her white satin coronation dress and the purple Robe of Estate, wearing the Diamond Diadem made for George IV and Queen Victoria’s collet diamond necklace.

The oil-on-canvas state portrait sees the Queen in the Throne Room in Buckingham Palace holding the sceptre, which lays with the Imperial State Crown on a table beside her.

Award-winning painter Isobel Peachey, who at 31 at the time was believed to be the youngest woman commissioned to paint the monarch, described the Queen as a “gracious, warm and friendly” sitter as she unveiled an official portrait for Cunard to hang in its new cruise liner – Queen Elizabeth.

Over the years a number of unofficial portraits of the Queen have been commissioned, including US artist Andy Warhol’s pop art print impression titled Reigning Queens.

In 1955, Sir William Oliphant Hutchison was commissioned by the Edinburgh Merchant Company to paint the Queen after she became head of the Order of the Thistle, Scotland’s Order of Chivalry, on her accession.

In 1992, British artist Richard Stone was commissioned to paint a portrait of the Queen by the Borough of Colchester.

His portrait became a popular image during the period of mourning for the Queen’s death on September 8 last year and was used in various broadcasts.

Charles has also sat for a number of paintings over the years, including for a modern-style portrait by Bryan Organ commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery’s trustees in 1980, shortly before his wedding to Diana, Princess of Wales.

With a British flag hanging over his head, the future King can be seen sitting in a relaxed pose on a wooden chair while wearing polo clothes, a sport he played for 40 years.

In 2000, Charles featured in John Wonnacott’s The Royal Family: A Centenary Portrait along with his mother the Queen, his father the Duke of Edinburgh, his sons Harry and William and the Queen Mother.

The oil-on-canvas painting, which features the family’s beloved corgis, was commissioned by the trustees of the National Portrait Gallery to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Queen Mother.

British artist Michael Noakes also captured various members of the royal family for the 25th silver wedding anniversary of the Queen and Prince Philip.

His oil sketch of the Queen Mother wearing Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Brooch, painted as a study for a group portrait, was later acquired by Charles for Clarence House.

He said in a Royal Collection Trust video that the painting captured her “likeness” and reminds him of “the essence of my grandmother’s personality”.

Ahead of the King’s coronation in May, an £8 million Government-funded scheme is offering public authorities the chance to claim a free portrait of Charles.

Oliver Dowden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said the portrait will “serve as a visible reminder in buildings up and down the country of the nation’s ultimate public servant”.

A picture was also commissioned by the Illustrated London News for its special coronation edition, which showed the King – who did not sit for the portrait – wearing a bracelet given to him by an indigenous Amazon leader.

Artist Alastair Barford said he wanted to capture Charles’s “sensitivity” in the oil painting, with the inclusion of the bracelet a nod to his environmental campaigning.

In June last year, the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge viewed their first joint portrait at the Fitzwilliam Museum, commissioned by the Cambridgeshire Royal Portrait Fund as a gift for the county.

The portrait was painted by British artist Jamie Coreth and shows the pair standing side-by-side, with Kate in an elegant emerald dress and William in a black suit.