The Family of Philip V

The Family of Philip V, 1743, oil on canvas, by Louis-Michel van Loo, portrays the Family of the Spanish King at the time, Philip V. Louis-Michel van Loo, a French painter, was hired as a court painter for the Spanish Royal Family in 1737, part of a group of french painters hired by the Spanish Court to make the Spanish Royal Paintings more elegant and grandiose.

In the painting, the family is dressed in regal clothes, with the men wearing fine stately clothes and women wearing elaborate dresses. The background of the painting is dramatic, with soaring Roman arches, tall Corinthian columns, and a grand marble floor adorned with geometric designs. These aspects of the background are relevant since they all are elements of Greco-Roman architecture. By placing the Spanish royal family within a grand ballroom surrounded by Greco-Roman architecture, the artist is making a connection between the Spanish Royal Family and the Roman Empire, almost implying that the Spanish Royal Family is continuing the traditions and values of the Roman Empire. 

At a time where the Spanish Empire's relative power was decreasing in comparison to England and France, the choice symbolized the Spanish Royal Family's perceived strength as an institution in the Spanish Empire and throughout the world. In this work, the Spanish Royal Family is portrayed almost as if they're the inheritors of the legacy of the Roman Empire, a reputation that would be helpful to solidify around Europe and the world.

Today, paintings of the Spanish Royal Family don't include allegories to Ancient Rome, but still incorporate the stature and persona of the Royal Family members. In the painting of the Family of Juan Carlos II by Antonio Lopez, the Royal Family are all dressed in modern clothes, with nothing differentiating the portrait from similar portraits of other Spanish families other than the fact that this portrait displays the Spanish Royal Family at the time the painting was originally started. The work illustrates how Spanish Royal Portraiture has changed significantly over the past few centuries to make the Spanish Royal Family more relatable and accessible to the public while also illustrating the more ceremonial role the monarchy plays in Spain today.

Sources:

Ciechanowska, Helena, et al. “The Picture: Spain.” The Oxford History of Western Art, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002, p. 233. 

“La Familia De Felipe V - Colección.” Colección - Museo Nacional Del Prado, https://www.museodelprado.es/coleccion/obra-de-arte/la-familia-de-felipe-v/ff667d13-323f-48cc-8923-4a6245e02f1f.