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Francis of Austria (1768-1835) was the son of Leopold and Maria Luisa, Grand Duke and Duchess of Tuscany, and the grandson of Charles III of Spain. He was the last Holy Roman Emperor, becoming the first Emperor of Austria. Francis was also the father-in-law of Napoleon. He is depicted wearing the emblem of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
Ferdinand IV (1751-1825) was the third son of Charles VII of Naples and his wife, Maria Amalia of Saxony. When his father acceded to the Spanish throne as Charles III in 1759, he became king of Naples. The sitter wears the Orders of the Golden Fleece and San Gennaro. His childish grace contrasts with the courtly pomp of the setting.
This image of King Charles III was paired with a portrait of his wife, Maria Amalia of Saxony (P2201), although the image of the queen was not painted in her presence. Instead, it was invented on the basis of other likenesses, as she died before the artist was able to paint her.Mengs’s effigie of Charles III became the monarch’s official image and was therefore the object of various replicas. One
A solemn prototype of the effigy of Charles III, who stands in armour in front of a purple hanging and a column, traditional symbols of royal power. Replica of P02200, on the occasion of the foundation of the Royal Order of Carlos III.
The two children portrayed here were the children of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Leopold of Habsburg –who became Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 1790–, and Maria Luisa of Bourbon, daughter of Charles III. This commission might have come from the Spanish monarch, who wanted a portrait of his grandchildren, painted in Florence in 1770. Ferdinand (1769-1824), standing, is playing with the chain of
Second son of the Empress Maria Teresa and of Francis I, the sitter was born in 1747. He succeeded his brother Joseph II, who died without heir in 1790, as emperor of Germany and died in 1792. Brother of Marie Antoinette, Leopold attempted to raise a coalition of forces against the French Revolutionary regime. This portrait, together with those of his wife (P-2199) and their children, was painted
Francisco Javier (1757-1771), youngest son of Charles III and Maria Amalia of Saxony, was painted by Mengs in the Palace of San Ildefonso, Segovia, as were his brothers, Antonio and Gabriel. The pose and expression are particularly natural and the traditional accessories of royal portraiture are reduced to the column, curtain and insignias of the Orders of the Golden Fleece, Santiago and San Genna
This portrait of Charles IV as the Prince of Asturias has as its pendant a portrait of his wife, María Luisa of Parma, also in the Museo del Prado (P2189). Anton Raphael Mengs had come to Spain in 1761 at the invitation of Charles III in order to serve as pintor de camára, or court painter, the most prestigious appointment for an artist in the service of the king. He probably produce
Mengs depicted the Infante Antonio (1755-1817), son of Charles III and Maria Amalia of Saxony, in the Palace of San Ildefonso, Segovia. The artist made use of the type of elegant, natural portrait that he had developed in Rome to depict English visitors. The Infante wears the insignias of the Orders of the Golden Fleece and of San Gennaro and Santiago.
Son of Charles III and Maria Amalia of Saxony, Gabriel (1752-1788) was a celebrated patron of art and a translator of the Roman historian Sallust. He wears the Cross of Malta together with the insignias of the Orders of the Golden Fleece, San Gennaro and the Saint-Esprit. Mengs introduced a sense of naturalness and dignified simplicity into royal portraiture.
Mengs had a profound influence on the younger generation of Spanish painters, notably on the Bayeus, Maella, Inza, Goya and Vicente López Portaña. His Neoclassical style was diametrically opposed to Tiepolo´s, whose style and paintings were falling out of fashion. The Spanish Collections hold many of his portraits. He was a refined and skyfull court painter with exquisite technique,
