The Family of Charles IV

Revolution and Nightmare

Francisco de Goya

The Family of Charles IV

1800

Oil on canvas, 280 × 336 cm. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

The Spanish royal family lines up across the canvas in fashionable dress, jewels and royal orders. Painted soon after his promotion to First Chamber Painter, it shows how close he now stood to the throne.

  • Painted at Aranjuez and Madrid over one spring and summer, and probably hanging in the Royal Palace the same year.
  • Look at the centre: the king and queen stand with their two youngest children.
  • The Prado names two models: Velázquez's Las Meninas and Van Loo's group portrait of Philip V's family.
  • The Prado praises how clearly each sitter's character comes through. Even in an official state portrait, the royals appear as distinct individuals rather than idealized types.
  • Palace inventories still record it there in 1814; ten years later it belonged to the Prado.

Image: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (PD-Art)

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