The Palace of the Planet King

One of the most important series of paintings executed for the Buen Retiro Palace was the Ancient Rome cycle, which comprised at least thirty-four pictures. The guidelines for the paintings were established by the circle of the Count-Duke of Olivares, and the commissions were coordinated by the Marquis of Castel Rodrigo, ambassador to Rome, and Olivares's brother-in-law the Count of Monterrey, Viceroy of Naples.

The painters chosen by them included a broad representation of the most prominent artists active in Rome and Naples in the 1630s: Ribera, Poussin, Lanfranco, Domenichino, Finoglia, Romanelli and Stanzione, among others.

At least three different series have been identified. The first portrays Roman public entertainments-including athletes, gladiators, chariot races, animal fights and mock sea battles-and was designed to establish a link between the recreational uses of the Retiro Palace and ancient practices. A second group depicted scenes from mythology and ancient history, with themes relating to Bacchus and the Lupercalia festivities. A third series dealt with significant moments in the public life of an emperor: military victory, the highest expression of his authority, and the funus or ceremonies associated with his death.

Some of these works are on display for the first time and have been restored for this exhibition.

The Hall of Realms, a large rectangular space in the centre of the northern wing of the building (now the Museo del Ejército), was the most representative and significant area of the Buen Retiro Palace. It derives its name from the coats-of-arms of the twenty-four realms of the Spanish monarchy painted on the ceiling. It was originally intended as a throne room, though festive events were also staged there. The monarch presided over the ceremonies from a seat of honour at one of the room short ends.

The room was very sumptuously ornamented. The walls, painted with grotesque decoration, were hung with pictures full of symbolic and political significance designed to glorify the King of Spain. On the north and south walls, between the windows, hung twelve battle scenes commissioned from court artists (such as Velázquez, Maíno and Cajés) celebrating the great victories won by the armies of Philip IV throughout his empire. Only eleven now survive. Above the doors and between the battle paintings were ten scenes from the life of Hercules by Zurbarán. Hercules was an allegorical model of the virtuous and heroic prince and was linked dynastically to the Hapsburgs, who considered themselves his descendents. The equestrian portraits of Philip III and Margaret of Austria were arranged at one end of the room, flanking the throne, and at the other end were the portraits of Philip IV and Isabella of Bourbon, also on horseback. Between them, above the door, hung that of Prince Baltasar Carlos. These portraits, painted by Velázquez, underlined the concepts of hereditary monarchy and dynastic continuity.

The campaign to acquire works of art to decorate the Buen Retiro Palace also included a significant number of landscapes, which were painted by artists active in Rome during the 1630s. These works were commissioned by the Marqués de Castel Rodrigo, Philip IV's ambassador in Rome (1632-1641), who was also responsible for the choice of artists.

At least two series of paintings were commissioned: a cycle of landscapes with hermit saints (some twenty-four works), most of which were sent from Rome in 1639; and a set of bucolic or pastoral landscapes (at least ten), which arrived in Spain around 1641. Some of the best landscape artists of the period, such as Claude Lorrain, Nicholas Poussin, Jan Both, Jean Lemaire, Herman Swanevelt and Gaspard Dughet, participated in this series. The commission was one of the most significant in seventeenth-century European landscape painting.

In Madrid, the pictures were installed in a room known as the "Landscape Gallery" located in the west wing of the Buen Retiro.

Room 2 of the Museo del Prado displays a selection of landscapes that also belonged to this group.