Miguel Jacinto Meléndez Circle

Circle of MIGUEL JACINTO MELÉNDEZ (Oviedo, 1679-Madrid, 1734).
"Felipe V".
Oil on canvas.
Measurements. 67 x 52 cm.
This portrait represents the King of Spain Felipe V of Bourbon (1700-1746). It is a representation of three quarters, framed in an oval form and with a dark background, which emphasizes the whiteness of the skin and the warm colors of his clothes. These types of representations were frequent at the time and were intended to be sent to civil and military institutions, inside and outside the metropolis, in order to transmit the features of the sovereigns throughout the territories that made up the Spanish empire; they were also sent to relatives or personalities linked to the monarchy, and even to the various European courts. Due to its artistic and aesthetic characteristics, it can be said that this canvas was made by a follower of the Spanish painter Miguel Jacinto Meléndez (1679-1734). Miguel Jacinto Meléndez would give birth to a whole family of artists, to which his brother and nephew, Luis Meléndez, one of the most important still life painters of the 18th century, would belong. Born in the 17th century, the Spanish Golden Age, he would move, at the end of the century, to Madrid, where he would study in the workshop of José García Hidalgo, who had been a disciple of Carreño de Miranda. Miguel Jacinto was able to consolidate his role as a court portraitist very soon, thanks to the death of the last baroque painters of the court of the Austrias: Carreño de Miranda, Francisco Rizzi and Francisco de Herrera. Luca Giordano's return to Italy would also help to consolidate this position. In 1712 he would complete the portraits of Philip V, Maria Luisa Gabriela of Savoy and the heir to the throne, Louis, and this would earn him the title of honorary painter to the king. This last condition, that of honorary, entailed the absence of a fixed salary, although this would change in 1727, probably thanks to the completion of the outstanding series of portraits of Philip V's family for the Royal Library. Despite the absence of a fixed salary until that date, the painter knew how to win the favor of the powerful and would soon obtain a comfortable economic and social position. The last portrait signed by the painter would be that of the second wife of the monarch, Isabel de Farnesio, in 1727 and it seems that, after that date, he did not portray the royal family again. In addition to portraiture, the painter was also dedicated to religious painting, receiving commissions from various churches and convents. Meléndez's portraits show a discreet elegance, with a great interest in the representation of clothes and jewels that add sumptuousness and sophistication to the image. In addition, his models usually present a melancholic and pensive aura.