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''Portrait of Mariana of Austria'' is an oil-on-canvas painting by Diego Velázquez completed in 1652–53. Mariana, then nineteen years old, was the daughter of Emperor Ferdinand III and the Infanta Maria and as the second wife of Philip IV became Queen consort of Spain. She was known as Maria Anna to contemporaries and is shown here as rather plain looking, wearing an unhappy expression. The painting shows Mariana full-length in a black dress with silver braid. She wears a close-fitting bodice adorned with jewellery that includes a gold necklace, bracelets and a large gold brooch. Her right hand rests on the back of a chair, and she holds a lace scarf in her left hand. The picture is bathed in harmonious shades of black and red; the rather dramatically drawn curtain was painted over by another hand. ''Portrait of Mariana of Austria'' is one of a series of female Spanish courtiers painted by Velázquez in the 1650s. A complicated rivalry existed between the courts of Madrid, Paris and Vienna. Velázquez played a key role in depicting the relative attractiveness of those that might bear successors to the respective kings.〔Prohaska, 230〕 The portraits are marked by an emphasis on brighter hues, dark backgrounds, extravagant head dress, fashionably wide dresses and penetrating physiological examination. These court portraits culminates in his 1556 ''Las Meninas'', which includes an older maternal Mariana, and center-stage her daughter, the Infanta Margarita Teresa. Based on the description of a portrait sent to Ferdinand in Vienna, the portrait was probably completed by 15 December 1651.〔Mancini, 226〕 ==Background== Mariana's mother Maria was Philip IV's sister. Maria had been betrothed to Baltasar Carlos, Philip's son and her cousin, but he died in 1646, leaving the Spanish king heirless. Then over forty years old, Philip sought Mariana, his niece, then fourteen.〔Dominguez, 248〕 Velázquez accepted the commission during his 1649–50 stay in Italy; Ferdinand requested a portrait of his daughter, and Philip asked the painter to return to Madrid with it as soon as possible.〔 Mariana did not meet Philip before their marriage, and when they did meet they had little in common. She was then thirteen years, described by art historian Rose-Marie Hagen as a "ruddy-cheeked, naive girl who loved a good laugh".〔Hagen, 396〕 When Philip died in 1665 she became regent for her son Charles II, the last of the Spanish Habsburgs. Margarita had an unhappy life, and her bid to provide Charles with an heir included a number of false hopes and miscarriages.〔White, 127〕 Her surviving children were later portrayed by Velázquez – most famously her first, the Infanta Margaret Theresa who he painted a number of times,〔 and who takes center stage in ''Las Meninas''. Margarita Teresa was later portrayed in a similar pose to the current work, complete with wide haircut and dress, and underneath a similar overhanging red velvet curtain. Velázquez was then crown painter, an ''Aposentador mayor del Palacio'' since 1652,〔White, 124〕 but was working in a court that, under pressure from the anti-Catholic Oliver Cromwell, the Catalan revolt, and the withdrawal of support from Austria, was often anxious and depressed.〔White, 123〕 Velázquez himself often felt drained by his workload;〔 the appointment hindered his health, leisure time, and because he now had many duties that in tending the court, which reduced his time available for painting.〔White, 125〕 Velázquez painted a number of portraits of Mariana after Philip's death. They emphasise her loss and the effect of widowhood. Although most of his portraits of Mariana are dour or mournful in tone, in life she was vivacious and fun loving.〔Dominguez, 131〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Portrait of Mariana of Austria」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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