Westminster Abbey is home to what is believed to be the oldest contemporary portrait of an English monarch; whom does it depict?

A portrait of the King wearing coronation robes, seated in the Coronation Chair, and holding the orb and sceptre, is now in the nave of the Abbey, having originally been in the quire (the area of a church or cathedral that provides seating for the clergy and church choir). This wooden panel-painting is the earliest known contemporary portrait of an English monarch. It dates from the 1390s. The suggestion has been made that the artist was court painter André Beauneveu, but this remains unverified. The King is in a green tunic decorated with the letter R, wearing a crimson robe lined with ermine, an ermine cape, vermilion socks and gold shoes. It was restored and re-framed in 1866 (but rather badly) by George Richmond. Much detail on the crown, orb and sceptre was lost.

Richard was born in France on 6th January 1367, the son of Edward the 'Black Prince' (eldest son of King Edward III) and Joan, called the 'Fair Maid of Kent'. The death of his elder brother Edward left him the sole heir. His father died in 1376 and so, at the age of 10, Richard succeeded his grandfather as King.

In 1381 the Peasants' Revolt broke out against the poll tax and Richard, aged 14, rode out and confronted the mob and pacified them. However, he was not a successful ruler, being elitist and tyrannical, and he was deposed as King and imprisoned in 1399 by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke (who became Henry IV), son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Richard died in captivity in February 1400.