Portrait of King Philip III of Spain (1578-1621)

…; from Charles Howard Hodges (1764-1837), Amsterdam, with SK-A-508, 509, 510, fl. 28, to the museum, 1829¹¹NHA, ARS, Kop, inv. 36, pp. 253-255 (28 April 1829); NHA, ARS, Kop, inv. 36, p. 258 (8 July 1829).

ObjectNumber: SK-A-507

King Philip III (1578-1621) of Spain was the fifth and only surviving son of King Philip II (1527-1598); his mother was Anna of Austria (1549-1580). He wears the badge of the Order of the Golden Fleece, of which he was made a knight in 1583. In 1599, he married his second cousin, Margaret of Austria (1584-1611), a portrait of whom (SK-A-508) is a pendant to the present picture. As will be clear in the discussion of both portraits in that entry, there can be no doubt about the identification of the sitters, first made in the museum catalogue of 1880.

The Venetian diplomat Simone Contarini (1601-1684) described the young Philip as ‘[of a] small body … of a pleasant appearance, modestly built, blonde beard and hair, very Catholic … Loves justice and avoids pleasure and enjoyment, known to hunt on his own, is a friend of solitude … he is no soldier or friend of arms …’.²²F.J. Sánchez Cantón, Los Retratos de los Reyes de España, Barcelona 1948, p. 136. The original reads: ‘pequeño de cuerpo … de agradable vista, modestamente fornido, barba y cabello rubio … catolicísimo … Ama la justicia y es desviado de placeres y gustos, muéstrale sòlo en la caza …; es amigo de la soledad … no es soldado ni amigo de armas…’. The decoration of the garniture worn by the sitter is the same as that in portraits of circa 1592³³M. Kusche, Juan Pantoja de la Cruz y sus seguidores: B. Gonzáles, R. de Villandrando y A. López Polanco, Madrid 2007, p. 58 and fig. 28; S. Ferino-Pagden et al., Die Gemäldegalerie des Kunsthistorischen Museums in Wien: Verzeichnis der Gemälde, Vienna 1991, for Pantoja see inv. no. 2581 and fig. 681. and 1594⁴⁴M. Kusche, Juan Pantoja de la Cruz y sus seguidores: B. Gonzáles, R. de Villandrando y A. López Polanco, Madrid 2007, p. 58 and fig. 29; G. Heinz and F. Klauner, Katalog der Gemäldegalerie, I: Italiener, Spanier, Frazosen, Engländer, II: Vlamen, Holländer, Deutsche, Franzosen, 2 vols., Vienna (Kunsthistorisches Hofmuseum) 1958-60, I, p. 86 under no. 608. by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz (1554-1608) in Vienna; the corselet is preserved in the Real Armería, Madrid.⁵⁵A. Soler del Campo (ed.), The Art of Power: Royal Armor and Portraits from Imperial Spain, translated by J.F. Ordman, exh. cat. Washington (National Gallery of Art)/Madrid (Museo Nacional del Prado) 2009-10, no. 61. The armour was given to the heir to the throne by Don Iñigo López de Mendoza (1556-1601), fifth Duke of Infantado, and was described in the 1594 inventory of the Real Armería as ‘Another small harness for foot tourney engraved and gilded with damascening work …’.⁶⁶A. Soler del Campo (ed.), The Art of Power: Royal Armor and Portraits from Imperial Spain, translated by J.F. Ordman, exh. cat. Washington (National Gallery of Art)/Madrid (Museo Nacional del Prado) 2009-10, no. 61.

Although he has traditionally been disparaged by historians, Philip was well prepared to assume his role as king.⁷⁷P.C. Allen, Philip III and the Pax Hispanica 1598-1621: The Failure of Grand Strategy, New Haven/London 2000, pp. 2-11. After an initial resumption of an ambitious pursuit of war, he oversaw the treaty of peace with the king of Great Britain in 1604, and – because of lack of funds – five years later the Twelve Years Truce with the opposing Dutch provinces. Spain was well able vigorously to resume hostilities at the end of the truce, and before that to assist the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II (r. 1619-37), in what became the Thirty Years War.⁸⁸P.C. Allen, Philip III and the Pax Hispanica 1598-1621: The Failure of Grand Strategy, New Haven/London 2000, passim and L. Duerloo, Dynasty and Piety: Archduke Albert (1598-1621) and Habsburg Political Culture in an Age of Religious Wars, Farnham 2012, passim.

See further discussion under SK-A-508.

Gregory Martin, 2022

Zandvliet in K. Zandvliet et al., Maurits, Prins van Oranje, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 2000-01, no. 96 (as studio of Frans Pourbus II)

1832, p. 88, no. 409 (as unknown of Philip IV King of Spain); 1872, p. 195, no. 412 (as unknown 16th century of Philip IV); 1880, pp. 431-32, no. 513 (as unknown Flemish 17th century master of Philip III); 1885, no. 513 (as unknown Flemish of Philip III); 1903, p. 31, no. 353; 1934, p. 27, no. 353 (as anonymous Flemish School beginning of the 17th century); 1976, p. 691, no. A 507 (as Southern Netherlands School c. 1600)

G. Martin, 2022, 'anonymous, Portrait of King Philip III of Spain (1578-1621), Southern Netherlands, c. 1600', in Flemish Paintings in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.6633