Philip IV

The portrait Philip IV, 1624 by Diego Velazquez, portrays the full body of the Spanish king. In the portrait, Philip IV is wearing a black dress, typical for anyone in the Spanish court, adorned by a gold chain across his body holding a pendant. 

By depicting Philip IV with little ornamentation, both in his clothing and in the background of the portrait, Velazquez is able to illustrate the king’s presence with simplicity and without the need for any substantial symbolism. In addition, the simplicity of the portrait itself helps keep the viewer’s attention on the King, allowing the King’s posture, face, and stature to take up most of the space of the portrait. 

Although the portrait of Philip IV by Velazquez seems rather simple, some of the design choices Velazquez makes in representing the King help further cement Philip IV’s role as the head of the empire and a figure to be revered by all. Velazquez portrays Philip IV facing slightly leftward, with his left foot angled to the left and his right foot facing straightforward. This posture resembles the one of Philip IV’s grandfather, Philip II, who used it in daily activities with others. As a result, the work conveys Philip IV as a person who fully inhabits the position of King and someone who conducts stately affairs on behalf of Spain. The portrayal of the King was relevant for the Spanish Royal Family because at a time, most of their subjects throughout the world were illiterate and wouldn’t get the chance to see Philip IV in-person. Hence, Philip IV’s portrait served as the only method in which Spanish subjects would be able to know and interact with their King. By doing so, the portrait acted as a visual imprint of the King for millions of people that the King would never directly interact with and would help establish the importance of the Spanish Crown through the Spanish Empire. 

Today, these techniques of portraiture have been used to elevate people who have often been neglected in art. In Charles I by Kehinde Wiley, Wiley depicts an African-American woman in a tall, upright position, with her right arm bent. The woman is also surrounded by floral patterns, a common trait in Kehinde Wiley's art. Although the posture of the woman is based on a portrait of Charles I the King of England, the artistic choices in how Velazquez depicts Philip IV and in how Wiley portrays the woman in Charles I are quite similar, illustrating how Wiley is able to use art to put African-Americans in a position of strength and grandeur, something that was often missing in paintings of them in history. 

Sources:

“Velázquez (Diego Rodríguez De Silva y Velázquez): Philip IV (1605–1665), King of Spain.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437873. 

Brown, Michael A., et al. Art & Empire: The Golden Age of Spain. The San Diego Museum of Art, 2019, p. 34.

Volk, Mary Crawford. “Of Connoisseurs and Kings: Velazquez' Philip IV at Fenway Court.” Fenway Court 1985, 1986, p. 27-28.

Wiley, Kehinde. “Charles I.” Saint Louis Art Museum, 2 Dec. 2022, https://www.slam.org/collection/objects/62989/.