Spanish school; 17th century.

Spanish school; XVII century.
"Philip IV.
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Measurements: 64 x 48.5 cm; 89 x 74 cm (frame).
The image represented by the artist follows the models of the last portrait that Velázquez made of Philip IV, painted between 1653 and 1657, which is currently preserved in the Prado Museum. In this work, although Velázquez portrays the monarch with respect and dignity, the traces of fatigue, the passage of time and the many concerns that beset the king in those years are evident on his face. It is a very different work from his previous portraits: a simple bust, with a dark suit, an informal and intimate portrait that reflects a physical and moral decay of which Philip IV himself was fully aware. In fact, nine years had passed since he had last been portrayed, and he himself commented in 1653: "I am not inclined to pass for the phlegm of Velázquez, as not to see myself growing old". This portrait shows how the artist has tried to capture the true personality of the monarch, without flattering him or seeking his approval even in difficult moments. The attention is focused on the face, which shows us an old man, despite being about fifty years old, aged by the problems and without any attribute of his royalty except the golden fleece that hangs from his chest.
In the seventeenth century, copies of royal portraits were common, commissioned to be placed in the palaces of aristocrats and important prelates. However, triumphal images of the monarch were frequently chosen, generally captured during his youth, so it is rare that this late portrait of Philip IV was copied at the request of a provincial commissioner who wished to honor his king. It would therefore be a copy made in Madrid by a follower of Velázquez, painted in order to study both the formal characteristics of a mature work of the master and the psychological characterization of the character. In fact, a similar portrait of Philip IV, also executed by Velázquez, which must have been a sketch for the portrait of the king in "Las Meninas", is kept in the National Gallery in London. It differs from the previous portrait because in the London portrait the king does not wear the chain with the Golden Fleece.