(Paris 1680–1730 Arpajon)
Portrait of King Ferdinand VI of Spain when Infante, holding the Order of the Saint Esprit and the Golden Fleece, inscribed lower right: ferdinan de bourbon/in fan de Spagne/nee le 17…,
oil on canvas, 81 x 65 cm, framed

We are grateful to Gloria Martínez Leiva for confirming the attribution. Her written report accompanies the present painting.

Seated on a richly embroidered cushion on a carpet interwoven with silver and gold, the infant prince and future king is depicted, in this hitherto unpublished portrait, in a highly unusual way. In striking contrast to the surrounding splendour, he is portrayed as a naked young child holding two of the highest chivalric orders of the kingdom, the Golden Fleece and the St. Esprit. Amplifying this contrast of royal power and childlike innocence are the warm, golden hues of the surroundings, and the silvery, cool flesh tones and blue eyes of the prince. This is a colouristic device Houasse used in other portraits, such as the contrast between the cold tones of the sitter’s robes and warm colours of the décor in his portrait of Luis I in the Prado (Madrid, Museo del Prado, oil on canvas, 172 x 111 cm, inv. no. P002387).

Iconographically this type of portrait of infants is reminiscent of earlier Baroque depictions of the Infant Christ, established at the court of Louis XIV in the late 17th century. There is a similar portrait of the Infant Charles, eldest son of Philip V and Isabella Farnese, in which the child is seated on a red velvet cushion (see E. Puerto de Mendoza, La difícil búsqueda de un pintor de corte: Michel Ange Houasse y Andrea Procaccini retratistas de Felipe V, in: Philostrato. Revista de Historia y Arte, no. 10, 2021, pp. 37–38). The present painting belongs to a group of rare portraits by the French artist Michel-Ange Houasse made for the newly established Bourbon court in Madrid in the years immediately following his arrival there in February 1715.

Following the end of the War of the Spanish Succession, King Philip V urgently needed a capable painter to help spread the image of his family as means of dynastic propaganda. However, there were few artists who could meet the requirements for this vital role. Juan García de Miranda and Miguel Jacinto Meléndez were active for the court, but their sometimes coarse and inelegant likenesses lacked the polished refinement the Bourbons, who were accustomed to the splendid creations of a Rigaud or Mignard, desired.

In a letter written in 1712, Queen Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy, wife of King Philip V. complained: ‘If we had some good painters in Spain, I would not have expected your request to send you our portraits; But, in truth, the ones that have been made us so far are all so bad that I have not been able to. My mother has been making the same request to me for a long time, and I replied that I hoped to be able to send one to her soon, because once we have a quieter time, which we will have soon, God willing, we will bring a painter from France’ (see Y. Bottineau, El arte cortesano en la España de Felipe V (1700–1746), Madrid 1986, p. 334).

Philip V’s financial adviser, Jean Orry, appears to have been instrumental in hiring Houasse, who was already considered a ‘famous painter’ (see J. J. Luna Fernández, Houasse en la Corte de Madrid. Notas y documentos, in: Anales del Instituto de Estudios Madrileños, XVIII, 1981, p. 4). The son of the painter René-Antoine Houasse, a disciple of Le Brun, he learned from his father and at the Paris Academy, where he received a full training. He must have spent time in Italy between 1699 and 1704 and subsequently returned to Paris, becoming a member of the Academy in 1707. His early works for the Royal family in Madrid combine seventeenth century Spanish sobriety and French decorative trends of the end of Louis XIV’s reign in a fashionable grand manner. Juan José Luna has identified a portrait of Louis of Bourbon in a private collection as potentially the first Royal portrait made by Houasse in Spain. In that portrait, Louis of Bourbon wears short hair, without wig, and holds, as in the present painting, the Golden Fleece and the band of Saint-Esprit. The inscription on the canvas reads ‘Louis de Boubon [sic!] Princes Dastur / Naie le 24 de Agust 1707’ (see J. J. Luna, Michel-Ange Houasse retratista, in: El arte en las Cortes Europeas del siglo XVIII, congress Madrid/Aranjuez 1987, congressional papers, Madrid 989, pp. 393 and 400).

In the present portrait, the Infant Ferdinand appears to be little more than a year in age. Ferdinand was born on 23 September 1713. The French inscription with this date gives a further indication of the artists nationality. A portrait of the Infant Philip Peter of Bourbon appears to have been executed at around the same time. On his chest he wears, with a red bow, the insignia of the Golden Fleece, and on his torso the sky-blue band and cross of the Royal Order of Saint-Esprit. At his feet, there is again an inscription that identifies him ‘Filipe de Bourbon Infan despagne naie le 7 / iuin / 1712’ (see J. Jordán de Urríes y de la Colina, Michel-Ange Houasse, Infante Felipe Pedro de Borbón, in: El retrato en las Colecciones Reales, exhibition catalogue, Madrid 2014, cat. no. 53, pp. 309–312). The present painting, considering the age of the sitter, must have been painted immediately following the arrival of Houasse in Madrid in March 1715, making it a potential contender for his first Royal commission.

Gloria Martínez concludes in her study, comparing Philip Peter and the present portrait: ‘Both the insignia worn by the infant, as well as the inscription that identifies him and provides his date of birth, as well as his childish face full of grace and vividness, put this work in direct relation to the one under study here. The badges that Ferdinand wears are identical, but instead of wearing them on his naked body, the boy holds them in his hands. The inscription provides exactly the same information as the one we have just seen, the name, position as infant of Spain and date of birth. But perhaps what is most striking is the great resemblance of the children. Their childish faces and the depth of their blue eyes are almost the same. This tells us not only of the fraternal resemblance of both, but also that the paintings were made by the same hand, which modeled with sweetness and care their childish features.’

Ferdinand VI, called the Learned (el Prudente) and the Just (el Justo), was King of Spain from 9 July 1746 until his death. He was the third ruler of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty. He was the son of Philip V, and his first wife Maria Luisa of Savoy. Ferdinand VI’s reign proved peaceful, as he avoided involving Spain in any European conflicts. Moderate changes to Spain were initiated under the king, including reforms of taxation, advance commerce, and the Spanish navy.