Beskrivning: Se även beskrivning i den engelska versionen

Catalogue raisonné: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 235: 

Technical notes: The support consists of three
pieces of fine and even plain weave fabric that have been
sewn together. Two longer pieces are joined vertically
near the centre. The left sewn to two pieces horizontally
near the lower side. The tacking edges along all four
sides have been preserved. The canvas has been prepared
with a cool dark grey colour that completely conceals the
texture of the fabric.

Paint has been applied opaquely with powerful and
generous brushstrokes. There are many areas of impasto.
The highlights stand out in relief. The horse and rider
have been painted into the reserved area left for them.
The hands have been executed opaquely with vigorous
brushstrokes of well mixed flesh tones. The face is finely
modelled above the ground, which is visible in places.
The collar has been painted over the garments. Round
his neck he wears the Golden Fleece, partly overpainted.
The horse has been rendered in thick layers of opaque
paint with distinct, at times coarse, brushstrokes to indicate
the texture of its coat. Details of the bridle and the
saddle have been executed in impasto. The background is
thin and rendered in opaque brushstrokes. The palette
consists mainly of earth pigments with traces of red
mixed with white for the saddle and bridle.
There are extensive retouches in the background of
the painting and the layers of paint have been flattened as
a result of lining. The painting is in good condition. The
painting underwent conservation treatment in 1952 and
2010.

Provenance: Coll. Queen Christina; Drottningholm;
transferred from Gripsholm in 1865.

Exhibited: Stockholm 2010, no. 109.

Bibliography: Sander IV, p. 173, no. 636 (as
Velásquez); Carlén 1860, no. 636; NM Cat. 1867, p. 81
(as Gaspar de Crayer); Justi 1888, II, p. 97–98 (as Gaspar
de Crayer); Granberg 1896, p. 38 (as Velásquez); Göthe
1893, p.75 (as attributed to Gaspar de Craye); Granberg
1929, p. 129, no. 90 (as Gaspar De Crayer); NM Cat.
1958, p. 238 (as anonymous Spanish painter); NM Cat.
1990, p. 432; Bjurström 1992, p. 28; Cavalli-Björkman
1999, pp. 100–101.

This portrait of King Philip IV was given to Queen
Christina, possibly as a result of the negotiations she
had begun in 1653 with the Spanish king in the hope
and confidence of his support in realizing her plans to
convert. She sent several gifts to Spain through the
Spanish Ambassador, don Antonio Pimentel, among
them Dürer’s Adam and Eve. In return for the large
equestrian portrait of herself painted by Sebastien
Bourdon, today in the Prado, she received an almost
life-size portrait of the Spanish king on horseback,
once believed to have been the work of Velázquez but
definitely executed by someone else, most likely a
Flemish artist.1 Already in 1888 Justi, in his Velasquez
monograph, attributes the painting to Gaspar De
Crayer and identifies it with a portrait painted by the
artist in Madrid some time after 1639.

The king is here represented riding peacefully on a
trotting horse in a transitory position on its hind legs.
This was, of course, from the 1620s and onwards, the
customary iconography of the king as military commander.
In this context there is, however, one odd fact
that deserves mention. Royal personages – especially
military commanders – always wear a hat while represented
riding. Christina is hatless in Bourdon’s portrait
as is Philip IV in his return gift. In all probability
this was an expression of mutual courtesy and of their
respect for each other’s sovereignty.2

GCB
1 Göthe 1893 writes about a piece of paper attached to the canvas stating
that the portrait was painted by Velasquez and given to Queen Christina
in 1652 through Pimentel. Granberg 1896 notes that the portrait is not in
Du Fresne’s inventory of the Queen’s paintings in Stockholm and that she
could have received it later.
2 See more about the interpretation of the portraits in Cavalli-Björkman
1997 and A. Danielsson”, Sébastien Bourdon’s Equestrian Portrait of
Queen Christina of Sweden-Addressed to His Catholic Majesty Philip
IV”, Konsthistorisk Tidskrift, Stockholm 1989, pp. 3, 95–108. [End]

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Okänd | Filip IV av Spanien (1605-1665) | Nationalmuseum

Okänd | Philip IV of Spain | Nationalmuseum

Foto: Erik Cornelius / Nationalmuseum 2010