This portrait of King Ferdinand VI, which forms a pair with the portrait of his wife, Barbara of Portugal, dates from the early years of his reign. It fact this painting was consecrated as the monarch’s “official” image on his accession to the throne in 1746. It largely maintains the posture, clothing and attitude of his depiction in the royal family portrait The Family of Philip V (1743), by van Loo.

Here Ferdinand VI, the Spanish king from the Bourbon dynasty, is seen dressed in the fashion of the 18^th century and posing next to a curtain that appears to come from the frame itself, just like the red sash around his waist, a depth-creating technique known as

 Repoussoir 

an optical device in art to create depth and lead the spectator’s eye into the painting.

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The king is represented with all his accoutrements and honours: the sceptre and the crown. On his breast, the pale blue sash of the

 Order of the Holy Spirit 

a chivalric order founded by King Henry III of France in 1578, taking its name from the Pentecost, to commemorate the day Henry inherited the throne of France. In 1760, Louis XV presented the Grand Cross of the Order and the Cross of the Order of Saint Michael to Charles III of Spain who in turn named Louis a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece. The Order of the Holy Spirit was abolished as a state honour during the French Revolution, surviving exclusively as a dynastic order.

; around his neck the chain of the

 Order of the Golden Fleece 

a chivalric order founded in 1429 in Burgundy by Phillip the Good (1396-1467) following the model of the Order of the Garter founded in 1348 by Edward III. Based on a defence of chivalry and Christian values, but also political ones, it was a dynastic order that established ties of brotherhood. Conferral was seen as a reward or recognition of excellence. Its insignia consists of a chain decorated with blue and red enamelled stones, from which hangs the figure of an enamelled gold fleece. The chain is no longer hereditary, its numbers are limited and it must be returned to the Royal House on the death of its holder.

; and the red sash of an army general around his waist.

The format of the work has undergone some alterations. It entered the bank’s collection with both sitter and painter wrongly identified—as a portrait of King Louis XIII of France attributed to Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1779)―on the label on the back from the

 Caja General de Reparaciones de daños derivados de la guerra civil 

(Compensations Fund for Civil War Damages) was an organisation created on 23 September 1936 by the government of the Second Republic presided by Largo Caballero. Its goal was to confiscate the goods of citizens who supported the military uprising on 18 July. The Caja General seized a great quantity of assets, both movable and immovable, including many works of art from private collections.

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