La infanta Margarita Teresa

The little girl is Margarita Teresa, daughter of Philip IV of Spain, and Velazquez painted her around 1653, when she was only two. The portrait had a job to do. She was promised in marriage to her uncle Leopold, the future Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna, and pictures like this were sent north so the distant court could watch her grow into the bride they were waiting for. That is why the painting hangs in Vienna today rather than Madrid, one of a run of such likenesses shipped across Europe. Velazquez dresses her in pale pink and silver grey, the fabric flecked with quick touches that catch the light. Her small hand rests on a low table, holding a pose a child that age could barely keep.