Prince Baltasar Carlos in Hunting Dress

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Prince Baltasar Carlos in Hunting Dress: Diego Velazquez

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Art Type: Oil Painting
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Diego Velazquez Oil Painting - Prince Baltasar Carlos in Hunting Dress

Keywords: Prince, Baltasar, Carlos, Hunting, Dress

Work Overview: Prince Baltasar Carlos in Hunting Dress (Prince Balthasar Charles as a Hunter)
Artist Diego Velázquez
Year 1635
Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions 191 cm × 103 cm (75 in × 41 in)
Location Museo del Prado, Madrid

Prince Balthasar Charles as a Hunter is a 1635 portrait of Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias by Velázquez. It is now held at the Museo del Prado.

King Phillip IV commissioned Velázquez to paint a series of portraits on the theme of the hunt, all of which were to adorn the hunting lodge that was built in the mountain of Pardo, close to Madrid, called Torre de la Parada. This pavilion was later converted into an art museum with a long series of Ovid’s Metamorphosis, painted by Rubens. This pavilion was reserved exclusively for the Court, and no-one else had access to it. It became one of the most important collections on the subject of mythology and a variety of nudes.

Velázquez painted two other works for this location on the theme of the hunt: El cardenal infante don Fernando de Austria cazador and Felipe IV cazador. The three works have something in common: a long format, the figure presented in three quartes, hunting weapon in hand and hunting clothes on the protagonists. It is known the painter created many more works on this subject but none of them are in Spain.

The prince is dressed in adequate clothing for this sport. A dark cloak with sleeves, wide jodhpurs, a grey embroidered blouse, a lace collar, knee-high boots, and a rifle of the appropriate size for a child.

In the painting there are two dogs, which are never missing from a hunting scene. One of these is very large, so much so that the painter decided to represent him sleeping so that he would not detract from the slight figure of the prince; it has large ears and its head is lying on the ground. The other is a little dog that is leaving the painting, a cinnamon colored greyhound with lively eyes, whose head reaches the height of the child’s hand.

The landscape is represented by the presence of an oak that accompanies the figure. One appreciates the forest of Pardo and in the background the blue mountains of Madrid, in the distance. The sky is gray, as if it were an autumn day, and it is full of clouds.

The critics agree in assuring that the head of the prince is an example of the skill of the painter.

The realistic portrait was executed in the first years of the mature period of the artist. The painting shows Crown Prince Baltasar Carlos in hunting costume, "when he was six years old", according to the inscription, which would make the date 1635, or more probably 1636. The picture of the prince seems to reflect a cool morning: the grass, wet with dew, is still shimmering in shades of blue-green in front of the dozing setter.

The inscription at the lower left serves to date this portrait between October 1635 and the same month the following year. At that time, following his first Italian visit and his permanent and conscientious study of the Royal Collections, Velázquez had already reached full artistic maturity. The protagonist of this work is young Prince Baltasar Carlos, son of Philip IV and Elizabeth of Bourbon, who was born in October 1629 and carried on his shoulders all hopes for dynastic succession. His active character and vivid intelligence suggested he would develop fine qualities as a ruler, but all expectations and promises were dashed when he died in October 1646. While it may seem odd to see such a young boy dressed as a hunter, accounts from that period list hunting as one of the first elements in his educational program, reflecting his royal lineage. In fact, he was fully outfitted for this activity from his earliest childhood, including the blunderbuss in his right hand, which the Viceroy of Navarre had given to Philip IV when he was still a child. As well as a superb example of Velázquez´s originality in the field of portraiture, this work reveals his growing interest at that time in another genre of painting: landscape. Here, the young prince´s surroundings and background are depicted with the freshness and freedom that have always produced such admiration in Velázquez´s work, and they are actually based on a real experience, as the tree is one of the old holm oaks on the Monte de El Pardo, while the mountains in the background remind any native of Madrid of the blue Guadarrama range. Of this artist´s work, the present portrait is among those that most vividly convey the sensation of being outdoors. The right side was cut at some point, as can be seen in old copies in which another dog is visible (Text from Portús, J.: Velázquez. Guía, Museo del Prado, 1999, p. 144).

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