VELÁZQUEZ, Diego Rodriguez de Silva y (b. 1599, Sevilla, d. 1660, Madrid) |
Portrait of Philip IV of Spain on Horsebackc. 1635Oil on canvas, 126 x 93 cm Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence | |
Velázquez sent this painting to Florence for a statue to be cast in bronze by Pietro Tacca, who had inherited the workshop of Cosimo I and Eleonora's sculptor Giambologna. In the painting, the slope behind the rider and his mount suggests a support for the nine-ton statue. Tacca, however, achieved the feat of a free-standing high-rearing horse. |