Duke of Pastrana
by CARREÑO DE MIRANDA, Juan, Oil on canvas, 217 x 155 cm
The artist painted in Toledo and Madrid. Charles II, successor to Philip IV, viewed him with favour, and in 1669 he was made painter to the King. Although his religious paintings are of unusual quality, his main interest was painting portraits, the finest being that of the Duke Pastrana, now in the Prado.
This mature portrait by Carreño, the impact of the dark and imposing, pyramidal figure of the Duke is counterbalanced by very delicate and melancholic coloring. Carreño’s work here recalls the portraiture of Van Dyck in England.