The involved question of attribution
becomes further complicated the moment when Sánchez’s pupil and follower Juan
Pantoja de la Cruz appeared on the scene. He was likewise Court Artist to
Philip II and Philip III. Pantoja worked for the Villahermosa family, as shown
by the Portrait of María Luisa de Aragón. This picture represents a seven-year
old girl dressed in mourning. Her father died in the royal prison that year
before. The painting shows how Mannerist trends were gaining an upper hand in
that of Pantoja de la Cruz. Pantoja painted his portraits with a finely graded
colour scale as if seen from very close up, and certain aspects are shown from
different angels of view. This created a special type of portrait known as the
“genre of the Habsburg dynasty”. The Mannerist conception of the figures and
objects often contrast surprisingly – the face became an increasingly stressed
feature and in the course of development became the dominant aspect of Spanish
portraiture.
Both Sánchez and Pantoja presented their
monarchs and aristocrats without any idealization and thus established a
tradition followed up by Velázquez, the entire Baroque school and later Goya.
Their portraits fulfilled all demands made by their Spanish clients, who in
their portraits wished to see the embodiment of seriousness (gravedad), majesty
(majestad) and honour (honra). |
Juan Pantoja de la Cruz:
María Luisa de Aragón; oil on canvas
|
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