Portrait of Philip IV in Armour

The Habsburg family was one of the most important and powerful royal houses of Europe from the 1200s until 1918. Philip IV of Spain was the king of Spain and Portugal from 1621 to 1640. He was a great patron of the arts, and the painter Diego Velázquez was a leading artist in his court. Velázquez painted this portrait of Philip IV in 1623, shortly after he was appointed court painter. The color contrasts of this sculptured-looking portrait are typical of the Seville style where Velázquez first learned to paint.