Juan Carreño de Miranda

Juan Carreño de Miranda was the leading court portrait painter in Madrid after Velázquez. His portraits of the young King Charles II and the royal family are sober and honest, painted in dark, rich tones with the loose brushwork he learned from Velázquez.

He was born in Avilés, Asturias, in 1614 and trained in Madrid. Religious commissions brought him to Velázquez’s attention, and in 1658 he worked on frescoes in the royal Alcázar. In 1671 he was appointed court painter, and he painted Charles II many times, as well as Queen Mariana of Austria, the Duke of Pastrana and the Russian ambassador Pyotr Potemkin. His pupils included Mateo Cerezo. The Prado holds many of his works. He died in Madrid in 1685.

In Charles II as Grandmaster of the Golden Fleece, look at how the pale face and hands stand out against the dark, rich tones around them.