Juan Pantoja de la Cruz: Portrait of Prince Philip Emmanuel of Savoy (1604)

(Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, Bilbao, Spain)

A painting by the Spanish artist Juan Pantoja de la Cruz (1553-1608). Philip Emmanuel, prince of Piedmont (1586-1605), was the eldest son of duke Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy (1562-1630) and his wife Catherine Michelle of Spain (1567-1597). Together with two of his brothers, Philip Emmanuel was sent by his father to Spain in August 1603 to complete their education and military training at the Spanish court of king Philip III of Spain (their uncle). The three brothers were received with much honor as they were seriously considered as heirs to the Spanish throne (until the birth of the future king Philip IV of Spain in 1605). Because of this the three Italian brothers were portrayed by the Spanish court portraitist. The young prince however died on 9 February 1605 of smallpox when he was only 18 years old. Philip Emmanuel is shown here in the style of the Spanish court painters - in a beautiful gilded ceremonial Milanese half-armor, his right hand holds the edge of the table, this same gesture repeated by the empty gauntlet resting on the table, while his left hand holds the general's baton of power. Around his neck, the prince wears the military order of the Santissima Annunziata, the highest order of the Savoy court. Painting from 1604.