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Prince Baltasar Carlos in the Riding School

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Prince Baltasar Carlos in the Riding School

Prince Baltasar Carlos in the Riding School, Spanish: La lección de equitación del príncipe Baltasar Carlos, is a painting by Diego Velázquez, painted at the Palacio del Buen Retiro outside Madrid, probably in 1636.[1]: 272 

Velázquez's work is considered a departure from the traditional portraiture of the Spanish Royal family.[2] There are two versions of the painting. The original was commissioned by Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares, first minister to the King. The second is sometimes attributed to the studio of Velázquez, sometimes to Velázquez himself.[2][1]: 272 

History

Both versions of the painting show the Infante Baltasar Carlos, at the age of about seven, on horseback in front of the Palacio del Buen Retiro outside Madrid; behind him is a dwarf. The horse is performing a levade, one of the "airs above the ground" of the haute école of classical dressage.[3]: 5:37  The symbolism of the prince performing this difficult manoeuvre resides in competence as a horseman as a metaphor for facility in handling the reins of state.[4]

In middle ground of the original version, Olivares, riding-master to the prince, receives a lance – which he will then hand to his charge – from Alonso Martínez de Espinar; they are watched by Juan Mateos.[5] Behind them, on a balcony of the palace, stand King Philip IV and Queen Isabel.[5][1]: 272 

The original version of the work is on loan to the National Gallery in London from a private collection;[6]: 20  the later version is in the Wallace Collection, having been purchased by the Marquess of Hertford in 1856 at a sale of the effects of poet Samuel Rogers.[6]: 20 [2]

The first documented mention of this later version is in a letter written in 1828 from Madrid by the Scottish artist David Wilkie, who described it as a "duplicate" of the painting in the possession of Robert Grosvenor, 2nd Earl Grosvenor.[1]: 266 

References

  1. ^ a b c d Harris, Enriqueta (1976). "Velázquez's Portrait of Prince Baltasar Carlos in the Riding School". The Burlington Magazine. 118 (878): 266–275. JSTOR 878338. (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b c Muñoz-Rojas, Natalia (January 2020). Prince Baltasar Carlos in the Riding School by the Studio of Velázquez. London. Retrieved 31 July 2020. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ Bray, Xavier (2018). Prince Baltasar Carlos by Diego Velázquez. London. Retrieved 31 July 2020. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Velázquez, Diego. "Prince Baltasar Carlos in the Riding School". The Wallace Collection. Retrieved 31 July 2020 – via Art UK/The Public Catalogue Foundation.
  5. ^ a b Fradejas Rueda, José Manuel (2018). Alonso Martínez de Espinar (in Spanish). Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved 31 July 2020. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ a b Morden, Karen; McKie, Rebecca, eds. (2008). The National Gallery Review of the Year April 2007 ‒ March 2008 (PDF). London. ISBN 9781857094572. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).

External links

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