circle of GASPAR DE CRAYER (Antwerp, 1584-Ghent, 1669).
"Portrait of Philip IV.
Oil on canvas. Re-drawn.
Size: 114 x 80,5 cm; 130 x 99 cm (frame).
We are before a portrait of the king Philip IV that follows the models imposed by the official portrait painting of the time, with the monarch placed next to a table where the royal attributes of the mime are found, for example; the crown and the baton of command, that the king himself points with one of his fingers. In this work we see an insistence on Flemish detail, which can be seen in the brocade of the cloth on the table, and in the care with which the jewels have been modelled, such as the ring or the toisón hanging from his neck. On the other hand, the composition, as we have already mentioned, does not represent an advance with respect to the model of representation of the monarchs, maintaining the forms of previous models. Thus, here we see the ideal of the previous generation: the figure is depicted upright and almost rigid, in a neutral-toned interior that is hardly given depth by the artifice of a gathered curtain which is at the same time a symbol of authority and majesty. Likewise, always following models established in Philip IV's time, the costume is treated with a meticulousness that reproduces all its details, and the figure appears wrapped in clothes that appear stiff.
Due to its technical characteristics, this work is aesthetically similar to the work of Gaspar de Crayer, a Dutch painter and draughtsman. In 1607 he joined the painters' guild in Brussels, where he spent much of his career. His painting was highly appreciated by the aristocracy of the day and he was soon closely associated with the court. Gaspar de Crayer's early works include portraits of the kings of Spain and the Spanish governors and officials who were stationed in the Spanish Netherlands, as well as members of the Brussels city council. For example, the equestrian portrait of Don Diego Messia Felipe de Guzmán (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) was painted by De Crayer in 1627-1628. In addition, from the beginning of his career, de Crayer received commissions for altarpieces to decorate various churches and monasteries around Brussels. It was not until 1635 that Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria, brother of King Philip IV of Spain and governor of the Spanish Netherlands after the death of his aunt Isabella Clara Eugenia in 1633, made him his first court painter. He later worked as court painter for Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, who became governor in 1647.