Description
The painting is today held at the Museo del Prado in Madrid. [1] It is an expression of the strength the House of Bourbon brought to the throne with Philip V's succession in 1700. The king, the central male, sits next to his second wife, Elisabeth Farnese. Farnese's arm next to the crown is a symbolic representation of the power she had. [4] Philip V and Maria Luisa's youngest son, Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias, heir to the throne at the time the painting was completed, is to the left of his father. The Princess of Asturias, Barbara of Portugal, sits next to Philip V's eldest daughter Maria Anna Victoria of Spain; she had married Barbara's brother as part of a double marriage between Portugal and Spain in 1729.
The central group includes the children of Philip V and Farnese. Between the king and queen is their youngest son the Cardinal Infante Louis who was later the Count of Chinchón. To the right of the queen is Infante Philip, later Duke of Parma, who stands above his wife Louise Élisabeth of France, Madame Infante, daughter of Louis XV. The two females standing above Madame Infante are the younger daughter of Philip V and Farnese, the Infanta's Maria Teresa Rafaela and her junior Maria Antonia. Maria Teresa Rafaela would marry Madame Infante's brother Louis, Dauphin of France in 1745 and Maria Antonia Fernanda married the future King of Sardinia in 1750. On the far right is Maria Amalia of Saxony sitting next to her husband Charles, then king of Naples and Sicily and later king of Spain. The couple were in Naples at the time but returned to Spain at the death of Ferdinand VI in 1759.
The wealth of materials depicted in the painting such as jewels, fabrics and the use of bright colours was previously unseen in paintings in Spain which had been traditionally dark and sombre, and was a reference to the Flemish school. [4] Partially hidden by the extensive theatrical red curtain that falls from the roof there is a balcony where a band plays a concert. The royals are in a large room opening onto a garden. [4]
Philip V was King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724 and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign is the longest in the history of the Spanish monarchy, surpassing Philip IV. Although his ascent to the throne precipitated the War of the Spanish Succession, Philip V instigated many important reforms in Spain, most especially the centralization of power of the monarchy and the suppression of regional privileges, via the Nueva Planta decrees, and restructuring of the administration of the Spanish Empire on the Iberian Peninsula and its overseas regions.
Elisabeth Farnese was Queen of Spain by marriage to King Philip V. She was the de facto ruler of Spain from 1714 until 1746 since she managed the affairs of state with the approval of her spouse, and is particularly known for her great influence over Spain's foreign policy. From 1759 until 1760, she governed as regent.
Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily was the youngest surviving daughter of Ferdinand, King of Naples and Sicily, and Maria Carolina of Austria. As the wife of the future Ferdinand VII of Spain, then heir apparent to the Spanish throne, she held the title of Princess of Asturias. It was rumoured that her mother-in-law, Maria Luisa of Parma caused her death, but there is no evidence to prove this.
Mariana Victoria of Spain was an Infanta of Spain by birth and was later the Queen of Portugal as wife of King Joseph I. She acted as regent of Portugal in 1776–1777, during the last months of her husband's life, and as advisor to her daughter, Maria I of Portugal, during her reign.
Elisabeth of France or Isabella of Bourbon was Queen of Spain from 1621 to her death and Queen of Portugal from 1621 to 1640, as the first spouse of King Philip IV & III. She served as regent of Spain during the Catalan Revolt in 1640–42 and 1643–44.
Louis-Michel van Loo was a French painter.
The Pacte de Famille is one of three separate, but similar alliances between the Bourbon kings of France and Spain. As part of the settlement of the War of the Spanish Succession that brought the House of Bourbon of France to the throne of Spain, Spain and France made a series of agreements that did not unite the two thrones, but did lead to cooperation on a defined basis.
Philip was Duke of Parma from 18 October 1748 until his death in 1765. A Spanish infante by birth, he was born in Madrid as the second son of King Philip V and Queen Elisabeth. He became Duke of Parma as a result of the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. The duchy had earlier been ruled by Philip's elder brother, the future Charles III of Spain, and by their maternal ancestors. Philip founded the House of Bourbon-Parma, a cadet line of the House of Bourbon. He was a first cousin and son-in-law of the French king Louis XV.
The Royal Palace of Riofrío is one of the residences of the Spanish royal family. It is under the management of Patrimonio Nacional, a government agency dedicated to the care and maintenance of properties owned by the Spanish state which the royal family uses. The building is set in a wooded deer-park in the municipality of San Ildefonso, in the province of Segovia, central Spain.
Maria Amalia was Queen of Spain from 10 August 1759 until her death in 1760 as the wife of King Charles III. Previously, she had been Queen of Naples and Sicily since marrying Charles on 19 June 1738. She was born a princess of Poland and Saxony, daughter of King Augustus III of Poland and Princess Maria Josepha of Austria. Maria Amalia and Charles had thirteen children, of whom seven survived into adulthood. A popular consort, Maria Amalia oversaw the construction of the Caserta Palace outside Naples as well as various other projects, and she is known for her influence upon the affairs of state.
Maria of Portugal is the name of several Portuguese queens, queens consort, princesses and infantas, some of whom reigned as Queen of Spain or other lands:
Marie Thérèse Antoinette Raphaëlle, Dauphine of France, was the daughter of King Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese and the wife of Louis, Dauphin of France, son of King Louis XV. The Dauphine died aged 20, three days after giving birth to a daughter who died in 1748.
Infante Luis, Count of Chinchón, known as the Cardinal Infante, was a Spanish infante and clergyman. He was a son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, Elisabeth Farnese. He was cardinal deacon of the titular church of Santa Maria della Scala in Rome, archbishop of Toledo and as such primate of Spain.
Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain was Queen of Sardinia by marriage to Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia. She was the youngest daughter of Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese. She was the mother of the last three mainline Kings of Sardinia.
Philippine Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans was the daughter of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, and his wife, Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, the youngest legitimised daughter of King Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon and the House of Orléans, Philippine Élisabeth was a Princesse du Sang. She died of smallpox at the age of 19.
Charles III of Spain is the third surviving son of the first Bourbon King of Spain Philip V and Elisabeth Farnese. The descendants of Charles III of Spain, are numerous. Growing up in Madrid till he was 16, he was sent to the Italian Sovereign Duchy of Parma and Piacenza which, through his mother Elisabeth of Parma, was considered his birthright. Charles married only once, to the cultured Princess Maria Amalia of Saxony, with whom he had 13 children; 8 of these reached adulthood and only 4 of these had issue.
Louise-Élisabeth of France was a French princess, a fille de France. She was the eldest daughter of King Louis XV and Queen Maria Leszczyńska, and the twin sister of Henriette of France, and she was the only one of his legitimate daughters who married. She married Infante Philip of Spain, who inherited the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza through his mother in 1748. Infante Philip was her father's first cousin; both men were grandsons of Louis, Grand Dauphin. Thereafter, Élisabeth and her husband founded the House of Bourbon-Parma. She functioned as the de facto ruler of the Duchy of Parma between 1748 and 1759.
Jean Ranc was a French painter, mainly active in portraiture. He trained under his father Antoine Ranc and his father's former student Hyacinthe Rigaud and served in the courts of both Louis XV of France and Philip V of Spain.
Margaret Yolande of Savoy was Princess of Savoy from birth and later Duchess consort of Parma. A proposed bride for her first cousin Louis XIV of France, she later married Ranuccio Farnese, son of the late Odoardo Farnese and Margherita de' Medici. She died in childbirth in 1663.
The Family of Felipe V is an oil on canvas painting by the French artist Jean Ranc completed in 1723. It features depictions of Philip V of Spain and his family. The painting is one of a trio of paintings that bear the same name; the other two are by Louis Michel van Loo and are dated 1738 and 1743.
