Portrait of Felipe IV (1605-1665), on a dark background, with black clothes and white collar, as an element that extolles the face of the king. Velázquez painted an image of great proximity, showing the most human condition of the monarch. The portrait shows Velázquez´s ability to capturate the tiredness and melancholy of the king in his last years of life.
Felipe IV
Feeling himself not yet qualified to rule when he ascended to the throne at age 16, he allowed himself to be guided by the most capable men he could find. His favourite, Olivares, was a far more honest and capable man than his predecessor the Duke of Lerma. Philip, however, lacked the confidence to free himself from Olivares's influence once he did come of age.
By 1643, when disasters falling on all sides led to the dismissal of the all-powerful minister, Philip had largely lost the power to devote himself to hard work. After a brief struggle with the task of directing the administration of the most extensive and worst-organized multi-national state in Europe, he sank back into indolence and let other favourites govern.
He thought his duty was to support the House of Habsburg and the cause of the Roman Catholic Church against the Protestants, to assert his sovereignty over the Dutch, and to extend the dominions of his family.
He was idealised by his contemporaries as the model of Baroque kingship. Outwardly he maintained a bearing of rigid solemnity, and was seen to laugh only three times in the course of his entire public life. But, in private, his court was grossly corrupt. imself. On his death, a catafalque was built in Rome to commemorate his life.
Felipe IV
Feeling himself not yet qualified to rule when he ascended to the throne at age 16, he allowed himself to be guided by the most capable men he could find. His favourite, Olivares, was a far more honest and capable man than his predecessor the Duke of Lerma. Philip, however, lacked the confidence to free himself from Olivares's influence once he did come of age.
By 1643, when disasters falling on all sides led to the dismissal of the all-powerful minister, Philip had largely lost the power to devote himself to hard work. After a brief struggle with the task of directing the administration of the most extensive and worst-organized multi-national state in Europe, he sank back into indolence and let other favourites govern.
He thought his duty was to support the House of Habsburg and the cause of the Roman Catholic Church against the Protestants, to assert his sovereignty over the Dutch, and to extend the dominions of his family.
He was idealised by his contemporaries as the model of Baroque kingship. Outwardly he maintained a bearing of rigid solemnity, and was seen to laugh only three times in the course of his entire public life. But, in private, his court was grossly corrupt. imself. On his death, a catafalque was built in Rome to commemorate his life.
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