Wearing half-armour and accompanied by an adjutant, the King is presented against a scene of battle with cavalry troops behind him in the panoramic background. Above the monarch, a winged Victory figure points out the pathway to triumph, while at the upper left corner we see Sagittarius, the King’s astrological sign. Grandson of Louis XIV, Philip V was born in Versailles on 19 December 1683 and proclaimed King of Spain in 1700. Ranc follows the prototype of the equestrian Baroque portrait, particularly those by Rubens and Velázquez, enlivening the latter’s mood of distant majesty and modulating the former’s fiery brilliance. The composition, with its judicious use of light and colour, brilliantly responds to the political and decorative requirements of portraits of this type.