''Prince Balthasar Charles With a Dwarf'' is a 1631 portrait 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 ...

Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias Balthasar Charles (17 October 1629 – 9 October 1646), Prince of Asturias, Prince of Girona, Duke of Montblanc, Count of Cervera, and Lord of Balaguer, Prince of Viana was heir apparent to all the kingdoms, states and dominions of the Spa ...

and a

court dwarf Some of the first dwarfs to have their histories recorded were employed as court dwarfs. They were owned and traded amongst people of the court, and delivered as gifts to fellow kings and queens. Visual effect Court dwarfs were made to stand rig ...

. It is now in the Museum of Fine Arts in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. It is the first of several portraits Velázquez painted of the young prince.Carr, Dawson W., Xavier Bray, and Diego Velázquez (2006). ''Velázquez''. London: National Gallery. p. 170. . The prince is shown in the uniform of a captain-general (adapted to his infant state but still including a commander's baton in his right hand, a shoulder sash and a sword hilt in his left hand). The dwarf holds an apple and a rattle, to contrast with the heir to the most powerful monarchy in Europe, who is shown as already in military training and not needing these usual children's attributes. The prince's static posture, in contrast to the dynamism of the dwarf's figure, turning to contemplate the prince, has caused some art historians to think that the painting was originally only of the prince, with the dwarf added later.

References

External links

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.org: ''Don Baltasar Carlos with a Dwarf''

Metropolitan Museum of Art catalog from the ''Velázquez'' exhibition
— ''online as PDF, with material on this painting (see index)''.

�� {{Diego Velázquez Portraits by Diego Velázquez in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 1631 paintings 17th-century portraits Portraits of men 1630s in Spain Portraits by Diego Velázquez Paintings of children