| Artist | |
|---|---|
| Culture | Spanish |
| Date | ca. 1660 |
| Object type | painting |
| Medium, technique | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 121 × 107 cm |
| Inventory number | 6708 |
| Collection | Old Master Paintings |
| On view | Museum of Fine Arts, First Floor, European Art 1600–1700 and British Painting 1600–1800, Gallery VIII |
The radiant child in the picture is Infanta Margarita Teresa, central figure in Diego Velázquez’s famous work Las Meninas. From early childhood onwards, the infanta was depicted in numerous portraits, including this picture, painted by Martínez del Mazo, Velázquez’s most outstanding pupil, who later became his son-in-law. Margarita Teresa was born from the second marriage of King Philip IV of Spain. While she was still young, she was engaged to marry her maternal uncle, Leopold I Holy Roman emperor, so a large number of her portraitswere sent to Vienna to her future husband. The couple were married when the girl was just fifteen. Following the birth of her fourth child, Margarita Teresa died, aged just twenty-one.
Pigler, Andor, Katalog der Galerie Alter Meister, 1-2. Museum der Bildenden Künste, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest. 2, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1967, p. 129-130.
Nyerges, Éva, Spanish Paintings, A Szépművészeti Múzeum gyűjteményei/The Collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, 2008, p. 130-131, no. 58.
This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.
