Portrait of the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Spain (1609-1641), three-quarter-length, in a gold-embroidered doublet and a gold embroidered crimson coat with a crimson sash, a baton in his right hand

The prime version of this celebrated portrait of the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Spain is in the Prado, Madrid (see S. Barnes, et al, Van Dyck: A complete catalogue of the paintings, Yale, 2004, p. 314, III.83). The Infante Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria was made a Cardinal from the age of ten and was the younger brother of Philip IV of Spain. He rose to prominence after the death of his aunt, the Infanta Isabella of the Netherlands, in 1633 when he succeeded her as Viceroy of the Netherlands, a year later becoming the highly-praised victor of the Battle of Nördlingen (recorded in Rubens' decorations for Archduke Ferdinand's Triumphal Entry into Antwerp, 1635). The Prado picture is indeed recorded as having been given by the Marqués de Leganés to Philip IV along with his report of the victory at Nördlingen, and shows the Archduke wearing the same sword as that worn by Charles V at the Battle of Mülberg in 1547. Repetitions of the portrait were soon to be found in various notable collections, including that of Charles I, Cardinal Mazarin, and the Earl of Clarendon.