It was a privilege to illuminate the first official portrait of HM King Charles III.
Jonathan Yeo’s portrait of King Charles was displayed at the Philip Mould Gallery, where it was illuminated with our Gallery130 Spotlights. Commissioned by The Drapers’ Company, the portrait portrays King Charles in a larger-than-life manner, dressed in the uniform of the Welsh Guards, a regiment he has served as Colonel since 1975.
The artist had four sittings with the King, held between June 2021 and November 2023, at Highgrove and later at Clarence House, with additional work carried out in Yeo’s London studio.
We used six GalleryOneThirty (G130) track-mounted LED spotlights with a high CRI of 98+ and a narrow 9-degree beam. This high CRI was essential for faithfully capturing the subtle colours and vivid red tones.
Due to the portrait’s height and the room’s layout, the lights were carefully positioned to avoid glare, with gallery track lights strategically arranged to cross-light the artwork. The lighting was set between 3000K and 3500K, which, given the room’s daylight, prevented over-saturation of the reds, ensuring the colours remained true both in person and in photographs.
