The Art of Power. The Royal Armoury and court portraiture

The exhibition opens with an introductory room that aims to explain the importance of royal collections of armour and painting at the Renaissance and Baroque courts as well as ideological and thematic connections. Notable exhibits in this room include the Parade Helm of Charles V with the symbol of the Golden Fleece, an object that emphasises the monarch’s position as Grand Master of that prestigious chivalrous Order, and the Burgonet of Charles V, symbolising the victory of Christianity over Islam. These objects are seen alongside paintings by Velázquez, Rubens and Teniers. Also on display, and indicative of the close link between armour and paintings as symbols of royal power, are documents with the orders given to the Royal Armoury to allow Velázquez and Rubens access in order to copy details of arms and armour.

The second section of the exhibition looks at Philip II’s new use of the armed portrait with respect to its earlier manifestations. The king either favoured the classical image alla romana with its heroic connotations, or the use of court dress, except in compositions relating to the Battle of Lepanto. These concepts are illustrated through objects such as the Parade Armour of Philip II, a suit of ceremonial armour that is exhibited next to Leone Leoni’s sculpture, and the Helmet of Ali Baja, a trophy from the Battle of Lepanto, shown alongside Titian’s painting that commemorates that victory.

Royal armour was not commissioned for much of Philip II’s reign, but there was a revival of this art form arising from the uncertainty surrounding Philip III’s survival as the last possible heir in the dynastic succession. This revival saw the creation of a series of portraits in armour associated with Philip taking the oath as Prince of Asturias, for example, the portraits by Pantoja de la Cruz and Justus Tiel, which are displayed next to child armour made by Lucio Marliani and Pompeo della Cessa.

The tradition was continued during the reign of Philip IV in works such as the Portrait of Philip IV with two Servants by Gaspar de Crayer, in which the monarch is depicted in the ceremonial armour sent to him in 1626 by Isabel Clara Eugenia.

The third section, entitled The Royal Armoury in 17th-century Court Painting, shows the different phases in the relationship between the collection of the Royal Armoury in Madrid and the court portrait, ranging from its close links with the image of royal power to its use as a mere repository of motifs applicable to different types of painting from the second third of the 17th century onwards. During that period armour and the way it had been used by Charles V and Philip II to convey symbolic notions of power continued to be a source of inspiration for a number of court portraits (such as Philip II on Horseback by Rubens, and Charles II in Armour by Carreño de Miranda). At this period, however, we see the holdings of the Armoury being used as accessories in portraits of nobles such as the Count of Benavente by Velázquez, that of the 2nd Marquis of Santa Cruz at the Relief of Genoa by Pereda (a recently restored canvas), and the image of the Count Duke of Olivares seen in The Recapture of Bahía in Brazil by Maíno. The sitters in these compositions appear wearing armour from the Felicísimo Viaje and with the ceremonial sword of the Catholic Kings.

The final section of the exhibition looks at the ascent to the throne of Philip V, a monarch who combined the French taste for the portrait in armour with the Spanish Habsburg tradition. The most telling example of this fusion is the anonymous portrait of the new monarch as a young man wearing Philip II’s armour that had once been depicted by Titian. This section also includes portraits of Ferdinand VI in part-armour by Jean Ranc, and that of Charles III by Mengs, which is the last example of a portrait of a Spanish monarch in armour and the final work in the exhibition.