Equestrian Portrait of Philip III

Philip III had been dead more than a decade when Velazquez painted him rearing on this horse, around 1634. The picture was never meant as a portrait from life. It was made for the Hall of Realms in the new Buen Retiro palace in Madrid, where Philip IV was assembling a room to glorify his dynasty and its victories. His late father takes a place there among the family on horseback, in gilded armor with a great pearl in his hat, the horse pulled up into a controlled rear. For a commission this size and this ceremonial, Velazquez had studio hands help him. A recent cleaning at the Prado stripped away later overpaint and brought back the light, open sky Velazquez had put behind the rising horse.