| Title | Isabel de Farnesio |
| Artist | Unknown. No signature but inscribed "Isabel Farnesio esposa de Felipe V" Lower Left [see copy with the high resolution photo] |
| Date | About 1890 - 1920. |
| Medium | Watercolour |
| Condition | Very Good |
| Size [Metric] | 33 x 22 cm. With Frame: 55 x 42 cm. |
| Size [Imperial] | 13 x 8.5 in. With Frame: 21.5 x 16.5 in. |
| Price | £395 |
I had the painting re-mounted and re-framed - although the original frame was hand made/ hand finished it was in dreadful condition and had been re-painted with a cheap gold paint. The paper on which the portrait is painted was revealed during framing and, I am told, is by "Whatman" who began to make paper of this sort in about 1840. It is apparently still in production with similar watermarks which makes dating difficult. Style of the original frame was late Vict. early Edw. and this is the most likely period. A late Victorian or Edwardian copy of a painting in the Prado collection [Catalogue No. 3774]. Carlos II the last Hapsburg King of Spain died on All Saints Day 1700. He was childless and left much of his inheritance by will to Philip of Anjou, grandson of France's King Louis XV and a member of the House of Bourbon. In 1701, at the age of 17, Philip was crowned King of Spain becoming Felipe V and triggering the War of Spanish Succession which ended with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The reign of Felipe V was to be the longest in Spanish history, though in two parts as he abdicated in 1724 in favour of his son, retaking the throne a year later when the son died. Felipe is credited with introducing to Spain much of the luxury of the French court and, thanks to his marriages, the classicism of the Italians. Spanish art was revived. Unhappily by any account Felipe was troubled. He became prone to mental upheavals, was plagued by religious conscience and was probably a hypochondriac. Isabel de Farnesio, whom he married in 1714, when she was twenty two, was his second wife. Unusually she was not of Royal blood but was, as perhaps she had to be, a strong woman. She appears to have taken a hand in politics and is regarded as the instigator of policies leading to the expulsion of Austrians from Italy. She lived until 1766 and it was her son who succeeded (as Charles III) to the Spanish throne. The artist of this watercolour is not known. Neither does the Prado know who painted that in its collection. Overall this is a lovely painting, the clothes and background are beautifully worked. |
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