Focus on The Family of Philip V (1743) and explore the Description.
The painting is today held at the Museo del Prado in Madrid. It is an expression of the strength the House of Bourbon brought to the throne with Philip V's succession in 1700. The king, the central male, sits next to his second wife, Elisabeth Farnese. Farnese's arm next to the crown is a symbolic representation of the power she had. Philip V and Maria Luisa's youngest son, Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias, heir to the throne at the time the painting was completed, is to the left of his father. The Princess of Asturias, Barbara of Portugal, sits next to Philip V's eldest daughter Maria Anna Victoria of Spain; she had married Barbara's brother as part of a double marriage between Portugal and Spain in 1729.
The central group includes the children of Philip V and Farnese. Between the king and queen is their youngest son the Cardinal Infante Louis who was later the Count of Chinchón. To the right of the queen is Infante Philip, later Duke of Parma, who stands above his wife Louise Élisabeth of France, Madame Infante, daughter of Louis XV. The two females standing above Madame Infante are the younger daughter of Philip V and Farnese, the Infanta's Maria Teresa Rafaela and her junior Maria Antonia. Maria Teresa Rafaela would marry Madame Infante's brother Louis, Dauphin of France in 1745 and Maria Antonia Fernanda married the future King of Sardinia in 1750. On the far right is Maria Amalia of Saxony sitting next to her husband Charles, then king of Naples and Sicily and later king of Spain. The couple were in Naples at the time but returned to Spain at the death of Ferdinand VI in 1759.
The wealth of materials depicted in the painting such as jewels, fabrics and the use of bright colours was previously unseen in paintings in Spain which had been traditionally dark and sombre, and was a reference to the Flemish school. Partially hidden by the extensive theatrical red curtain that falls from the roof there is a balcony where a band plays a concert. The real characters are in a large room opening onto a garden.
Louis XV Louise Élisabeth of France Naples Flemish school Museo del Prado House of Bourbon Count of Chinchón king of Spain Charles right Maria Antonia Barbara of Portugal Maria Anna Victoria of Spain King of Sardinia Madrid Louis, Dauphin of France Cardinal Infante Louis Elisabeth Farnese Maria Teresa Rafaela Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias Duke of Parma Maria Amalia of Saxony Infante Philip Ferdinand VI