A standing figure of a king, probably Charles II of Spain (1661-1700)

This dynamic full-length portrait depicts a young king accompanied by the iconographic attributes befitting his status. In addition to his crown, sceptre and sword, the figure wears a chain across his chest with the emblem of the chivalric Order of the Golden Fleece, over which the Hapsburg and subsequently Bourbon dynasties presided in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The King’s elaborately rendered costume is typical of the late 17th century and his theatrically billowing cloak imbues the work with a sense of dramatic movement characteristic of Baroque sculpture. Whilst his attire and attributes point to his earthly wealth and status, the King gazes piously heavenwards as befitted a Christian ruler of the time.

The sitter’s age and appearance point to his being the Hapsburg King Charles II of Spain (1661-1700). His predecessor and father, Philip IV died when his heir was still a young child, but Charles’ fourteenth birthday marked his coming of age as King in 1675 and thus an appropriate moment for a sculptural portrait. The inclusion of the red marble pedestal on which the figure stands, however, complicates the question surrounding the sitter’s identity as it is decorated with three fleur-de-lys, the symbol of the Bourbon, not Hapsburg family. A possible explanation for this incongruence is that the base is not contemporaneous with the figure, but was added slightly later to reidentify the king and thus show allegiance to Charles II’s successor Philip V who eventually took control of the throne following the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714).

The identity of the sculptor who created the present lot is also a complicated question as extant sculptural depictions of Charles II are relatively rare, particularly in Spain. Depictions of the monarch were more commonly found in Spanish or Hapsburg-controlled territories outside Spain, especially within Italy. Iconographic similarities to the present lot can be found in Italian depictions of Charles II such as Marcantonio Canini’s full-length marble in L’Aquila (1675) and the bronze depiction by Cosimo Fanzago on the Fountain of Monteoliveto in Naples (1673). On stylistic grounds, it has been suggested that the present lot is closest to the sculptural output of the Sicilian and Neapolitan schools, in particular the work of Palermo-born Giovanni Travaglia (1643-1687).