''Prince Baltasar Carlos in the Riding School'', es, La lección de equitación del príncipe Baltasar Carlos, is a painting by

Diego Velázquez Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptized June 6, 1599August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He was an individualistic artist of th ...

, painted at the

Palacio del Buen Retiro Buen Retiro Palace (Spanish: ''Palacio del Buen Retiro'') in Madrid was a large palace complex designed by the architect Alonso Carbonell (c. 1590–1660) and built on the orders of Philip IV of Spain as a secondary residence and place of recre ...

outside

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, probably in 1636. There are two versions of the painting, one on loan to the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

in London, the other in the

Wallace Collection The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wallace, who built the extensive collection, along w ...

in the same city; the latter is sometimes attributed to the studio of Velázquez, sometimes to Velázquez himself.

History

The original version of the work was loaned to the

in London in 2007–2008. The first documented mention of the later version is in a letter written in 1828 from

by the Scottish artist David Wilkie, who described it as a "duplicate" of the painting in the possession of

Robert Grosvenor, 2nd Earl Grosvenor Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster, (22 March 1767 – 17 February 1845) was the son of the 1st Earl Grosvenor, whom he succeeded in 1802 as 2nd Earl Grosvenor. He was created Marquess of Westminster in 1831. He wa ...

. In 1856 it was bought by Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford, at a sale of the effects of the poet

Samuel Rogers Samuel Rogers (30 July 1763 – 18 December 1855) was an English poet, during his lifetime one of the most celebrated, although his fame has long since been eclipsed by his Romantic colleagues and friends Wordsworth, Coleridge and Byron. His ...

, and so passed into the

The paintings

Both versions of the painting show the Infante Baltasar Carlos, at the age of about seven, on horseback in front of the

outside

; behind him is a

dwarf Dwarf or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a being from Germanic mythology and folklore * Dwarf, a person or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a humanoid ...

. The horse is performing a '' levade'', one of the "

airs above the ground The airs above the ground or school jumps are a series of higher-level, Haute ecole, classical dressage movements in which the horse leaves the ground. They include the capriole, the courbette, the mezair, the croupade and the levade. None ar ...

" of the '' haute école'' of

classical dressage Classical dressage evolved from cavalry movements and training for the battlefield, and has since developed into the competitive dressage seen today. Classical riding is the art of riding in harmony with, rather than against, the horse. Correct c ...

. In middle ground of the original version, Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares, first minister to the King and riding-master to the prince, receives a lance – which he will then hand to his charge – from

Alonso Martínez de Espinar Alonso Martínez de Espinar (5 May 158814 May 1682) was a Spanish courtier and one of three important writers on venery of the Spanish Baroque. He was a ''ballestero'' ("crossbowman") and arquebusier to several kings of Spain. Life Martí ...

, identified from an engraving, by , on the frontispiece of his treatise on archery; they are watched by

Juan Mateos Juan Mateos (?–1594) was a wealthy inhabitant of Gibraltar during the Spanish period. He was remembered for being the founder of Gibraltar's first hospital, which subsequently became the old St Bernard's Hospital. Early life Juan Mateos was a ...

, identified from an engraving by

Pedro Perete Pedro Perete, ( 16108 April 1639) was a seventeenth-century Baroque engraver and painter in Madrid. He was the son, and pupil, of engraver Pieter Perret, Peter Perret. Perete Hispanicized the family name from the Dutch "Perret". Many of his works ...

on the

title page The title page of a book, thesis or other written work is the page at or near the front which displays its title (publishing), title, subtitle, author, publisher, and edition, often artistically decorated. (A half title, by contrast, displays onl ...

of his treatise on hunting. Behind them, on a balcony of the palace, stand King Philip IV and Queen Isabel.

References

{{ACArt, country=ES Paintings by Diego Velázquez 1636 paintings Equestrian portraits Paintings in the Wallace Collection Collections of the National Gallery, London

History

The paintings

See also

References