his psychological study King James in Faded Paint suggested that "Paulus van Somer had gifts and one of them was for the perception of character"; on the other hand, art critic Sir John Rothenstein condemned van Somer's work as dull and heavy. Copies of van Somer's royal portraits were often commissioned, particularly as James disliked sitting for painters, to be sent as gifts overseas. Many variants also exist in printed form. Van Somer is said to have introduced regalia into royal portraiture, for example that of the Order of the garter. The ambassador in Brussels, William Trumbull sent measurements for portraits to Van Somer. He replied in December 1618, via Edward Norgate, that the suggested sizes were too narrow. A standard full length portrait of usual proportions would cost £30 or £25. Van Somer received additional commissions from non-royal sources. The Earl of Rutland paid him £26 for portraits in 1618, and £37 for pictures of King James and Prince Charles in 1619. Lady Anne Clifford refers in her diary to being painted by him on 30 August 1619. A curiosity of van Somer's oeuvre is his portrait of Elizabeth Drury (1596–1610), a girl made famous by John Donne's poems on her death, such as "An Anatomy of the World". Van Somer may have painted the portrait several years after Elizabeth's death, or possibly during her visit to the continent with her parents shortly before she died. The portrait is noteworthy in that the subject is depicted in a semi-recumbent position—unusual for a non-nude of the period— which may, as H.L.Meakin points out, be intended as a sign of a philosophical or melancholy character, as in Nicholas Hilliard's portrait of Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland. Some of van Somer's work can still be seen today. He completed a much-reproduced portrait of James I in 1616 and one of Queen Anne in hunting attire with her African servant, horse, and hunting dogs, in the grounds of Oatlands, a year later. Van Somer had by then become Anne's favourite painter, supplanting John de Critz and Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger. Another portrait of Anne of Denmark, at Drumlanrig Castle, includes several jewels, a diamond crossbow in her hair, with diamond badges of "S" and "C4" referring to her family, and a centrally placed cross or aigrette which may the jewel known as the "Mirror of France". When she died in 1619 she owed