Queen Isabella Farnese
Ca. 1739. Oil on canvas.On display elsewhere
Shortly after his arrival in Spain in 1737 to take up the position of court painter, Louis-Michel van Loo was commissioned to paint two large-format portraits of the sovereigns. While Philip V opted for an equestrian image (Madrid, Galería de las Colecciones Reales), Isabella Farnese (1692–1766) chose to present herself in court dress in a splendid palace interior.The painter made several versions of this portrait, including the present one, in which the queen is depicted threequarter length and wearing an elaborate silk gown supported by panniers and embellished with a spectacular jewel of precious stones and pearls.The image makes use of the compositional model of the portrait painted by Jean-Baptiste van Loo (Louis-Michel’s father) of the French queen Marie Leszczynska, a scene carefully constructed through a visual language of marked symbolic content. As such, Isabella wears a pearl bracelet on her left wrist with a miniature of Philip V, alluding to the marital bond and her royal legitimacy. She also points firmly to the crown,resting on a red velvet cushion richly embroidered with castles, lions, and fleurs-de-lys, heraldic emblems that reappear on the mantle and the upholstery of the throne, completing a solemn and powerful image.
García Pérez, Noelia, The female perspective III. Queen Isabella Farnese (1692-1766), Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2025, p.20-27; 38 n.6
