Philip IV (1605–1665) in Parade Armor | Attributed to Gaspar de Crayer | All | European Paintings | Collection Database | Works of Art

Gallery LabelThis striking portrait shows Philip IV in a suit of armor that was made in Brussels and still exists in the royal armory in Madrid. The artist has, however, taken some liberties so that the armor would entirely encase the king's legs. Philip also wears the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

The attribution of the picture has been much debated. Long ascribed to the Flemish painter Gaspar de Crayer (1584–1669), it has also been ascribed to the Madrid artist Juan Bautista Maino. Maino advised the king on artistic matters and participated in the decoration of the royal palace of the Buen Retiro, Madrid. This portrait seems to date from the mid-1620s and is therefore more or less contemporary with the one painted by Velázquez that hangs nearby. Another closely related portrait—also ascribed to de Crayer—shows Philip IV with a dwarf (Palacio de Viana, Madrid).

NotesThis picture seems to have served as the model for a portrait of Philip IV in the Palacio Viana, Madrid, which has been associated with the Flemish painter Gaspar de Crayer through an early inventory.

ProvenanceHelen Hay (Mrs. Payne) Whitney, New York (until d. 1944; as "Portrait of a King" in the Manner of Zuchero, pendant to 45.128.15)

Exhibition History

Madrid. Museo Nacional del Prado. "Juan Bautista Maíno, 1581–1649," October 20, 2009–January 17, 2010, no cat. number.

References

José López-Rey. "Maino y Velázquez, dos retratos de Felipe IV en el Metropolitan Museum de Nueva York." Colóquio no. 25 (1963), pp. 15–18, attributes it to Maino.

José López-Rey. "A Portrait of Philip IV by Juan Bautista Maino." Art Bulletin 45 (1963), pp. 361–63, fig. 1.

Shirley Sanford. Letter. February 14, 1964 [see old catalogue card], attributes it to Maino.

Matías Díaz Padrón. "Gaspar de Crayer un pintor de retratos de los Austria." Archivo español de arte 38 (1965), pp. 238–39, fig. 3, attributes it to de Crayer.

José López-Rey. "Sobre la atribución de un retrato de Felipe IV a Gaspar de Crayer." Archivo español de arte 39 (1966), pp. 195–96.

Hans Vlieghe. "Caspar de Crayer als Bildnismaler, seine Entwicklung bis etwa 1630." Jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien, n.s., 27 (1967), pp. 99–101, fig. 91, supports the attribution to de Crayer.

José López-Rey. Velázquez' Work and World. London, 1968, p. 42, pl. 37, as by Maino; dates it 1623–24, and calls the painting in the Palacio de Viana a mediocre imitation of it.

Diego Angulo Íñiguez and Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez. Historia de la pintura española: Escuela madrileña del primer tercio del siglo XVII. Madrid, 1969, p. 321, as by Maino.

Hans Vlieghe. Gaspar de Crayer, sa vie et ses oeuvres. Brussels, 1972, vol. 1, pp. 258–59, no. A259; vol. 2, fig. 236.

Priscilla E. Muller. "Maino, Crayer, Velázquez and a Miniature of Philip IV." Art Bulletin 58 (March 1978), pp. 87–89, fig. 3.

José López-Rey. Velázquez: The Artist as a Maker, with a Catalogue Raisonné of His Extant Works. Lausanne, 1979, pp. 32, 158–59 n. 64, pl. 15, as by Maino, painted after January 1623.

Julián Gállego. Diego Velázquez. Barcelona, 1983, p. 55, as by Maino.

Walter A. Liedtke. Flemish Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1984, vol. 1, pp. 32–34; vol. 2, pl. 17, suggests that this version of the portrait may be earlier than the one in the Palacio Viana, Madrid.

Alfonso Rodríguez G. de Ceballos in Juan Bautista Maíno, 1581–1649. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2009, pp. 190, 213, 307, fig. 34.8 (color).

Leticia Ruiz Gómez in Juan Bautista Maíno, 1581–1649. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2009, pp. 197–98, 309–10, fig. 37.1 (color detail).

Leticia Ruiz Gómez. E-mails to Keith Christiansen. April 1 and April 3, 2009, reconsiders her attribution of this painting to Maino [Ref. 2006] and restores it to de Crayer, noting that he had a moment in the 1620s in which his style was quite close to that of Maino.

Curatorial Department

European Paintings: All