Portrait of King Philip IV of Spain - early 19th Century oil on canvas in period gilt plaster frame

c.1815 Oil on canvas gilt framed portrail of King Philip IV of Spain.

Attributed to Sir Thomas Lawrence crafted in the manner or style of Diego Velazquez, the Court Painter.

The painting was dated by an expert valuer to 1810-20 based on the frame, the age of the paint and also by the particular weave of the canvas, being of the type woven on the earliest canvas-making machine which was invented in 1805 in France and became used more widely from 1810 onwards.

The subject King Philip IV reigned from 1621-1665 having been born in 1605. He was called the Planet King (Rey Planeta) and reigned during the Thirty Years War, while also being renowned as a patron of some of the earliest great Old Master artists such as Spaniard Diego Velazquez and also Peter Paul Rubens the famous Flemish artist.

The last three great Old Masters of the British painters were John Singer Sargent, George Stubbs and Sir Thomas Lawrence. As masters themselves, they studied the forms of the older masters and re-worked their themes, often adding some detail of their own. It is hard to see the hands of either Stubbs or Sargent at work here, but the deeply baroque style of Lawrence sits well with the colours used, he loved his red, he enjoyed the play of light upon a fleshy face in emulation of Rubens, he had an expressed interest in the work of Diego Velazquez. He also worked in London where the frame was made, which itself conforms in many ways to the style of frames used for Lawrence's other known artworks in the period 1815-25. In fact in 1815 the studio of Sir Thomas Lawrence purchased from Byfields of Soho some 24 feet and 6 inches of "oak leaf, acorn and rope" patterned and gilded plaster to be used in frames, itself being crafted by the specialist frame decorator George Jackson. It is likely, our painting being dated between 1810-1820 that this frame was crafted from that block. We know also that Sir Thomas Lawrence also kept a stock of spare frames, yet there is nothing of the random fit between the portrait of King Philip IV who reigned in the 17th Century at the time when the acorn and oak leaf style of frame was the height of fashion, re-worked once again by Sir Thomas Lawrence in London. Most of his artworks were intelligently framed, as he himself insisted upon. And he liked his frames not to have accentuation around them, especially at the corners, no decorations there to distract the eye. And this style of frame perfectly matches his standards, as does the level of the art, the subject of the artwork, an old master's take on a grand European king of Habsburg lineage, who are known from their pronounced jaws.

Condition: Very Good. The painting was formerly removed from the frame by a previous owner with new pins used to replace it back into the rear again, so the original backing nails are gone and the grey paper lining to rear was necessarily split open in the process, as can be seen. The rear of canvas has light felt pen writing which appears to pertain to a silly game played by a boy possibly in a warehouse or storehouse where the painting once sat for a time. There is also an accompanying light water stain at the rear of the canvas, not appearing to have affected the painting itself. Undoubtedly it would benefit from being professionally cleaned, although the surface retains its original lustre when seen in the light. Certainly at the top of the king's chest is a small point of damage which can be seen in photos, which would need restoring to realise the fullest value. There are also two tiny nicks at the inner edge of the gilt frame, one at inner base edge, the other in line at the inner top edge, neither of these affect the painting itself. The rear of the frame has some pen markings relating to a catalogue or location number, there is a torn card which notes it is a portrait of King Philip IV of Spain, that it was sold to Mr..... the paper is torn off there, and possibly at the bottom was attributed to "Velazquez" at the time as a natural mistake. In fact when I bought this painting I hoped that I had stumbled across a lost work by Diego Velazquez, only a detective trail led to Sir Thomas Lawrence as the solution to the problem of its creation.

As to value, this painting is not proven to be by Sir Thomas Lawrence. In a mainstream auction house, restored and proven as being by Lawrence, it would be an easy £500k half a million pounds worth. The historical value of Sir Thomas Lawrence having made such an emulation, it is not a copy but a variant of the known works by Velazquez, it is a fiction by its artist as to what would King Philip IV appear like when about 35 years old, in the period in between the known works by Velazquez. It is also a fiction in seeming to present a fusion of the style of Velazquez blended with that of Rubens' illuminated fleshy face. It would be preposterous to suggest there was some other unknown artist at work in London in 1815 painting baroque style emulations of Old Master works by Velazquez and framing them exactly as Sir Thomas Lawrence did, and using his colours of oils, and favouring his subjects of artistic fascination. The King's head has no visible edge, it is suggested and blurred by the artist, precisely in the manner that Lawrence favoured. So with that said, this is a confidently attributed artwork only, and cannot be sold as the lost Old Master work by Sir Thomas Lawrence that it most certainly is according to all the evidence that can be seen, and so at the upper end it has a current value of around £50,000 as an early 19th Century oil painting of King Philip IV of Spain in a novel style but emulating or after that of Diego Velazquez. Therefore an asking price of £20,000 here seems fair when the opening is to realise so very much more and at the same time to restore this work to its true place in the history of art.

Outer frame approx 27 x 32 inches.

Inner frame approx 19 x 24 inches.

More photos are available.