Der Kardinalinfant Ferdinand von Österreich in Jagdkleidung

Ferdinand had been made a cardinal at ten, but Velazquez shows him as what he really was, a hunter and soldier in plain brown field dress, a gun in his hand and a dog at his feet. The painting dates from around 1632, just as Ferdinand left Madrid to take up his first governing post. Within two years this same young man would lead Spanish and Imperial troops to a major victory at Noerdlingen in Germany, then go on to rule the Spanish Netherlands for his brother, King Philip IV. Velazquez painted him for a royal hunting lodge outside Madrid, the Torre de la Parada, where his portrait hung among others of the king and the little prince, all dressed for the chase.