Isabella II
Ca. 1844. Oil on canvas.On display elsewhere
Isabella II (Madrid, 1830–Paris, 1904). Queen of Spain. She wears the sash of the Royal Order of Noble Ladies of Queen Maria Luisa and other barely visible decorations.
This is one of the three copies of Federico de Madrazo´s 1844 portrait of Isabella II held by the Museo del Prado in the Museo de la Real Academia de Bellas Artes of San Fernando. There are numerous replicas and copies of this image of Isabella II owing to its status as an official portrait. They vary character and quality, with slight variations in composition from the painting in the San Fernando Academy.
This one in particular would be an absolutely exact replica in all its details of the original painting. Another one was made by Isidoro Lozano (P007380), the latter to complete the Chronological Series of the Kings of Spain, in which, however, the design of the throne and the background varies, replaced by a cloudscape. The jewels of the queen, who is wearing a splendid diadem, also change in appearance. Between the two other versions is another copy (P003298) owned by the Museo del Prado. Although it is sometimes considered an original by Madrazo, but is treated as a copy, as the clumsiness of its design seems to indicate, specially, in the proportions and arrangement of the queen´s arms. However, it is a very interesting painting as it is only sketched, and the nervous, rapid brushstrokes in the preparation and design of the ornamental elements of the composition are clearly visible. The copy in the Museo Naval has also been considered an original, although its execution suggests that it is a copy for the same reasons as the copy in the Museo Romántico, due to the treatment of the accessories, clumsy drawing and excessive flatness
Díez, José Luis, Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz (1815-1894), Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 1994, p.183-184
