Artwork
Maria Antonia of Spain and her two daughters
Maria Antonia of Spain and her two daughters is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Domenico Duprà. It dates from 1756 and is held in the collection of the Museo del Prado.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Domenico Duprà's 1756 oil painting portrays María Antonia of Spain together with her two daughters, Marie Joséphine of Savoy and Maria Theresa of Savoy, in a family portrait composition. The work centers on the maternal bond, with the mother flanked or accompanied by her two children, emphasizing dynastic continuity and the close familial tie between the Spanish Habsburg princess and her Savoyard offspring. As a group portrait, it functions both as a likeness of named royal sitters and as a visual statement of lineage, presenting the three figures as a unified family unit rather than as isolated individuals.
The depiction of mother and daughters together reinforces themes of kinship, inheritance, and courtly identity within the eighteenth-century European royal sphere.
The painting is held in the Museo del Prado and is catalogued as a family portrait, underscoring its purpose as a representative image of the household rather than a purely ceremonial state portrait.
Technique & Style
The painting measures 145 cm in height and 112 cm in width, presenting the subjects in a manner that emphasizes their familial connection and status.
Domenico Duprà executed Maria Antonia of Spain and her two daughters in 1756 using oil paint applied to a canvas support. The work functions as a formal group portrait, capturing the mother and her two daughters with the compositional structure typical of mid-18th-century royal portraiture. The painting measures 145 cm in height and 112 cm in width, presenting the subjects in a manner that emphasizes their familial connection and status.
As a canvas-based oil painting from this period, the medium allows for the nuanced rendering of textures and the formal dignity required for a depiction of the Savoyard princesses.
History & Provenance
Domenico Duprà executed the oil painting Maria Antonia of Spain and her two daughters in 1756. The work depicts María Antonia of Spain alongside her daughters, Marie Joséphine and Maria Theresa of Savoy, functioning as a family group portrait. Created on canvas, the piece measures 145 cm in height and 112 cm in width. The painting is currently held in the collection of the Museo del Prado, where it remains located.
Domenico Duprà's 1756 oil painting, Maria Antonia of Spain and her two daughters, is held in the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid. The work, which depicts María Antonia alongside her daughters Marie Joséphine and Maria Theresa of Savoy, is part of the museum's permanent holdings. Specific inventory or accession numbers are not provided in the available records.
The provided sources do not document any exhibition history for this portrait, nor do they list past showings or loan details.
Overview
This oil painting, Maria Antonia of Spain and her two daughters, was completed in 1756 by the Italian Rococo artist Domenico Duprà. The work presents a formal portrait of María Antonia of Spain, Queen of Sardinia, accompanied by her young daughters, Maria Theresa and Marie Joséphine of Savoy. Duprà, a prominent court painter of his era, captured the royal family in a style characteristic of mid-18th century European portraiture.
Artist & collection
Artist
Giorgio Domenico Duprà (1689–1770) was an Italian rococo artist who served as a court painter to the House of Braganza, in Lisbon, and the House of Savoy, in Turin.
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