A Courtly Presence: The Life and Art of Paulus van Somer I Paulus van Somer, a name that resonates softly within the annals of 17th-century portraiture, arrived in England from Antwerp around 1618, already possessing a maturity of style that quickly established him as a favored artist at the court of King James I. While biographical details remain somewhat elusive—a characteristic common to many artists of his era—van Somer’s impact o…