On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P01187
- Author
- Velázquez, Diego Rodríguez de Silva y (Spanish)
- Title
- Maria de Austria, Queen of Hungary
- Chronology
- Ca. 1630
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 59,5 cm x 44,5 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- Yes
- Entrance
- COLECCION REAL
- Procedence
- Royal Collection
This is a bust portrait of Felipe
IV's sister. She wears a grey gauze
ruff over a tawny dress. The dark
background is traditional in
Velasquez's portraits.
It was painted in Naples during the
artist's first trip to Italy and
coincided with María of Austria's
passage on the way to Vienna, where
she was to marry Fernando de
Habsburgo, King of Hungary and
future Emperor Fernando III.
Velasquez adopted a bust format,
which was appropriate for portraits
free of the artifice and pomp of
official images. This portrait was
intended for King Felipe IV, who
wanted to have an image of his
sister before she departed. The
painter thus crafts a portrait that
is truly intimate and close to the
viewer.
Curiously, the artist still had
this work with him when he died,
probably so that he could use it as
a model for later portraits. It
reappeared in the collection of the
Duke of El Arco in 1745 and then
entered the Royal Collection.
Location on the map
