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The Face of Spain
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The Psychology of Power
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Velazquez
Queen Margarita on Horseback
1634-35
Oil on canvas, 297 x 309 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid
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Velazquez
Queen Isabel of Bourbon Equestrian
1634-35
Oil on canvas, 301 x 314 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid
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While even Philip IV's wife Isabel was represented in the Salon
only by another retouched equestrian picture (1634/35; Madrid, Museo
del Prado), the painting of Prince Baltasar Carlos on
Horseback is once again entirely by Velazquez' own hand.
Highlights applied with masterly skill emphasize the flowing
contours around the prince's face, which is bathed in light and
appears translucent, as if in a pastel. Even the shadows cast by the
brim of his hat are transparent. The gold embroidery of the
Infante's green costume stands out in attractive contrast,
emphasizing the brilliant blond of the child's hair.
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Velazquez
Prince Baltasar Carlos on Horseback
1635-36
Oil on canvas, 209 x 173 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid
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Velazquez' most impressive equestrian portrait, however, painted
in 1634, did not depict any member of the royal family but took as
its subject Count-Duke of Olivares on Horseback. At
that point in time, Olivares, by now the most powerful man in the
kingdom, sometimes even more powerful than the king, could describe
himself by the title of Count-Duke. He expressed his sense of his
own dignity by having himself painted on horseback, an honour
usually accorded only to ruling heads of state, and Velazquez
constructed a Baroque equestrian portrait of extremely bold
composition.
Olivares, famous for his horsemanship, is shown as a field-marshal
with a plumed hat, a cuirass adorned with gold and a baton; seated
on his mount, he is leaping down from a height into the depths
below, and his figure fills the entire breadth of the canvas. The
viewer looks diagonally upwards at the horseman, whose head is
turned well to one side, so that he himself is looking down on the
viewer from above in a lordly manner. The magnificent chestnut horse
has its head turned the other way and is looking down into the
depths of the picture, where the smoke of fires and gunpowder rises
on a wide plain, and the turmoil of battle is show raging in
miniature. Despite theories that have often been put forward, this
picture does not necessarily show any particular battle; instead, it
alludes in general to the military skill of the man who led the
king's armies from triumph to triumph.
No sooner was Buen Retiro completed than Philip IV began on his next
project. It was already quite usual for the king to ride out with a
small retinue in the extensive game preserves of the densely wooded
Pardo - Philip was a bold and enthusiastic huntsman, and he wanted
his court painter to record the stags he had killed for posterity.
Emperor Charles V had built a watchtower on the way to the
mountainous hunting grounds of the Sierra, as a place to stop and
rest before the most strenuous stage of the journey. This tower was
known as the Torre de la Parada, and Philip, who was particularly
fond of it, extended it to make a comfortable hunting lodge. He was
in haste to see it furnished, and commissioned Rubens to provide a
large collection of new pictures on mythological subjects.
After 1638, when the building itself was completed, it was the task
of Velazquez to decide how they should be hung, and to contribute a
series of hunting portraits himself, to hang with other appropriate
works already in existence and with pictures by Dutch masters. This
project cost him a great deal of time and trouble, but it also won
him increasing appreciation at court.
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Velazquez
The Count-Duke of Olivares on Horseback
1634
Oil on canvas, 314 x 240 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid
The bottom left corner of the picture shows an unfolded
empty sheet of white paper.
Curiously, although he usually failed to sign and date his paintings,
Velazquez often added such blank pieces of paper to his pictures but
wrote nothing on them.
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Velazquez
Head of a Stag
1626-27
Oil on canvas, 66,5 x 52,5 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid
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Velazquez
Allegorical Portrait of Philip IV
1645
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The three extant hunting portraits by Velazquez are life-size.
The portrait of the king (Philip IV as a Hunter) was
painted around 1632/33, and was altered a number of times. The royal
model stands in a relaxed attitude in front of a dark oak tree, with
a well-trained mastiff at his feet. A broad, light-coloured
landscape stretches out before him. He is dressed for stalking in a
brownish-green weatherproof tunic, leather gaiters and yellow
gauntlets. This portrait shows the private man at ease rather than a
splendid official figure - yet such is the skill of the painting
that we are still aware of the subject's royal dignity.
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Velazquez
King Philip IV as a Huntsman
1634-35
Oil on canvas, 191 x 126 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid
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Velazquez
Philip IV
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A companion piece painted several years later shows Crown Prince
Baltasar Carlos in hunting costume, "when he was six
years old", according to the inscription, which would make the date
1635, or more probably 1636. While the king's portrait conveys the
atmosphere of late afternoon in hot weather, the picture of the
prince seems to reflect a cool morning: the grass, wet with dew, is
still shimmering in shades of blue-green in front of the dozing
setter.
The hunting portrait of the Cardinal Infante Don Fernando was also painted to be hung in the Torre de la Parada. Velazquez
completed it around 1632/33. Despite his spiritual calling, the
king's younger brother did not hesitate to indulge his passion for
hunting. In this painting, showing him with his gun at the ready, he
looks even more of a huntsman than his relations. His expressive
outline balances the silhouette of the cinnamon-coloured dog sitting
in front of him, a figure once again illustrating the court
painter's skill in depicting animals. He pays them as much careful
attention as he expends on human beings; while he is of course aware
of the differences between animals and humans, he is also conscious
of the dignity shared by all living creatures. The natural elegance
of a horse's head or the body of a dog, their fiery or faithful
natures - few painters have captured the beauty and individuality of
animals as unforgettably as Velazquez.
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Velazquez
Prince Baltasar Carlos as a Hunter
1635-36
Oil on canvas, 191 x 103 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid
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Velazquez
Prince Baltasar Carlos as Hunter (detail)
1635-36
Oil on canvas
Museo del Prado, Madrid
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Velazquez
Cardinal Infante Don Fernando as a Hunter
1632-33
Oil on canvas, 192 x 108 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid
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Velazquez
Infante Don Carlos
1626-27
Oil on canvas, 209 x 125 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid
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Velazquez
Phillip IV in Army Dress (The portrait of Fraga)
1644
Oil on canvas, 133,5 x 95 cm
Frick Collection, New York
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Velazquez
Portrait of Philip IV
1652-53
Oil on canvas, 47 x 37,5 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
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