The reign of the Catholic Monarchs was a particularly significant period in the crystallisation of symbolic forms that had been inherited and at the same time adapted to the new political circumstances of the joint rule of Castile and Aragon.
As the last of the Trastámara dynasty the Catholic Monarchs inherited a rich textile tradition which made it possible to exalt the the figure of the King through his clothes, thus making a deep impression on the visual memory of his subjects. Clothing played a symbolic role from the moment when they were recognised as King and Queen of Castile (1474), with a notable change in the royal attire: "the Queen suddenly appeared wearing a very fine dress and shining gold jewellery with precious stones". A new development in portraiture was to raise the height of the bust to display the beauty of the Queen's dresses.
Isabella preferred gold and silver and also combined the colour of her own insignia (green) with red (the carmine and scarlet of Castilian royalty) and the reddish-purple of the heraldic lion of Castile. Ferdinand used this colour when he wore a purple cloak at the beginning of his reign.
One of the most important items in royal attire was the jewels sewn to dresses, bracelets, sashes and belts or exhibited in the form of pendants and necklaces worn by the sovereign.
ÁLVARO FERNÁNDEZ DE CÓRDOVA MIRALLES: Los Reyes Católicos y Granada, Sociedad Estatal de Conmemoraciones Culturales, Madrid, 2004, pp. 39-57 (catalogue)
Many portraits of the Catholic Monarchs have been preserved, often official images with a significant political and diplomatic function, which explains the need for numerous painters at the Castilian Court. During the fifteenth century, reflecting the humanistic spirit, a new type of palace portrait emerged, which gave total prominence to the individual.
This painting reduces the King's portrait to what is indispensable: his long face with its almond eyes is idealised, against a neutral, dark background which brings out his fair complexion. He is praying and wearing traditional Castilian clothes and is shown three-quarter face, according to the Flemish tradition, adding a dynamic element to the whole and avoiding the more static, aggressive appearance of the usual frontal view. From the heavy necklace he is wearing, an indication of the sense of majesty, we may deduce that this is an original portrait of the King which presumably belonged to an anonymous citizen of Granada, together with a similar portrait of Queen Isabella, both monarchs being shown half-length in Court attire. From the inscription accompanying the portrait, "King Ferdinand, founder of this Holy Hospital", we can infer that the painting was commissioned, together with one of the Queen, to decorate a hospital in Granada, given the city's lack of medical facilities after its reconquest by the Christians.
Bibliography:
YARZA LUACES, Joaquín: Los Reyes Católicos: paisaje artístico de una monarquía, Madrid, Nerea, 1993
PÉREZ, Joseph: Isabel y Fernando, Madrid, Nerea, 1997
VACA DE OSMA, José Antonio: Los Reyes Católicos, Madrid, Espasa, 2001
AA.VV.: Los Reyes Católicos y Granada, Madrid, Sociedad Estatal de Conmemoraciones Culturales, 2004 (catalogue)
SUÁREZ FERNÁNDEZ, Luis: Los Reyes Católicos, Barcelona, Ariel, 2004
MANSO PORTO, Carmen (coord.): Isabel La Católica y el arte, Madrid, Royal Academy of History , 2006
AA.VV.: El arte del poder: la Real Armería y el retrato de corte, Madrid, Prado National Museum: State Society for Foreign Cultural Action: National Heritage: Tf editores, 2010
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