Portrait of Infante Don Luis de Borbon by Anton Raphael Mengs
This is the Portrait of Infante Don Luis de Borbon by Anton Raphael Mengs, 1776, at The Cleveland Museum of Art. It was painted by a German artist for the Spanish royal family, but its subject's life and the artist's own end were steeped in intrigue.
The Infante meets your gaze directly, composed and almost smiling. Notice his impossibly ornate coat and the documents his hand rests upon. A clock on the table behind him ticks away the hours.
Despite his noble birth, Infante Don Luis was exiled by his father, King Charles III of Spain. He lived far from the royal court, eventually marrying a countess and renouncing his succession rights. Anton Raphael Mengs, the celebrated German Neoclassical painter who had become a favorite at the Spanish court, died just months after completing this portrait. His own burial was unusual: his tomb was secretly moved and reburied in 1791, away from the public eye.
What secrets lie behind these formal portraits?
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He looks right at you. Who was he? Infante Don Luis de Borbon, son of the King. His hand rests on documents. A scholar? He was exiled and lived far from court. Look at his impossibly ornate coat. This German painter was famous in Spain. Mengs died soon after painting this. His tomb was secretly moved in 1791.