It depicts a scene from the opening stages of the
English Civil War. After leaving
London,
Charles I raised his standard on 24 August 1642 outside
Nottingham Castle in the
Midlands, rallying supporters to his cause. Ultimately Charles would lose the war to his opponents and was
executed in 1649. Dawson uses
artistic license reimagines the old
medieval castle that stood by Nottingham. It was replaced during the
Restoration era by an
Italianate manor house which still stands today. Dawson depicts it as largely intact, whereas in fact it was already largely a
ruin even before the outbreak of the war. The painting is now in the art collection at Nottingham Castle, having been acquired in 1912. ==References==