Equestrian Portrait of the Duke of Lerma

In 1603 a young Rubens, still in his mid-twenties and not yet famous, was sent to Spain by his employer the Duke of Mantua, escorting a cartload of gifts for the Spanish court. While there he was asked to paint Francisco de Sandoval, Duke of Lerma, the royal favourite who effectively ran Spain for King Philip III. Rubens broke with the usual sideways pose of riders and drove the white horse straight toward us, hoofs raised, the duke looking down from the saddle in gleaming armour. It is one of the first equestrian portraits to charge head-on at the viewer rather than pass across in profile. Dappled sunlight falls through the leaves onto the horse's pale flanks.