| Charles IV of Spain and His Family | |
|---|---|
| Spanish: La familia de Carlos IV | |
 | |
| Artist | Francisco Goya |
| Year | 1800–1801 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 280 cm × 336 cm (110 in × 132 in) |
| Location | Museo del Prado, Madrid |
Charles IV of Spain and His Family is an oil-on-canvas group portrait painting by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya. He began work on the painting in 1800, shortly after he became First Chamber Painter to the royal family, and completed it in the summer of 1801.
The portrait features life-sized depictions of Charles IV of Spain and his family, ostentatiously dressed in fine costume and jewellery. Foremost in the painting are Charles IV and his wife, Maria Luisa of Parma, who are surrounded by their children and relatives. The family are dressed in the height of contemporary fashionable clothing and lavishly adorned with jewellery and the sashes of the order of Charles III.[1]
The painting was modelled after Louis-Michel van Loo's 1743 Portrait of Felipe V and his Family and Velázquez's Las Meninas, setting the royal subjects in a similarly naturalistic setting[2] as they pose for the artist who is visible at his easel at the left of the canvas.
- ^ "The Family of Carlos IV". Museo del Prado. Retrieved 23 July 2018
- ^ Gassier (1995), 69–73