Portrait of Duke Francesco I d'Este

In the autumn of 1638 Francesco d'Este, the Duke of Modena, came to Madrid to bind his small Italian state closer to the might of Spain. He was courting King Philip IV, and on the 24th of October the king gave him the Order of the Golden Fleece. You can see its collar at his chest, which is how we know the portrait was painted in the days just after. Velázquez, the king's own painter, had only a short window. The duke sat for him for less than a week. A grand equestrian portrait was meant to follow but was never finished. What survives is this head and shoulders, the red sash slashed on with a few loaded strokes, the face alert and guarded.