ANONYMOUS (Early 17th century) "Portrait of de la Cerda inf

 
"Portrait of the infants "de la cerda", sons fo King Alfonso X The Wise"
Oil on canvas. Provenance: Ducal House of Medinaceli, Collection of the Duke of Tarifa (according to the label on the back); Particular collection. This interesting double portrait, according to the old label that appears on the back of the painting, represents the Infantes de la Cerda and comes from the collection of the Duke of Tarifa. The Duchy of Denia and Tarifa was created by Alfonso Queen MarIa Cristina approved its separation into two titles: the Duchy of Denia and that of Tarifa, which fell to Carlos FernAndez de Cordoba as II Duke of Tarifa; to whom this canvas supposedly must have belonged, as stated by the label marked with the number 245 of an unlocated inventory. According to the study of the painting carried out by Enrique Valdivieso GonzAlez, professor of Art History at the University of Seville, the infants represented in the painting may be the children of Juan Luis de la Cerda, V Duke of Medinaceli, married to Isabel of AragOn . According to the inscriptions that appear in the work, they were ten and eleven years old respectively in 1606, which indicates that they were born in 1595 and 1596. According to the professor's report, the splendid background that the canvas presents in The one that shows a bay and a port must be related to some marine episode linked to this important lineage. As the author of the work, Valdivieso proposes Juan Pantoja de la Cruz (Valladolid, 1553 - Madrid, 1608), a painter who, at the time of Philip III's accession to the throne, became the official portraitist of the court and of the Spanish nobility of that time. Some works by his hand are still preserved in the Casa Ducal de Medinaceli Foundation, such as the portraits of Francisco GOmez de Sandoval y Rojas, I Duke of Lerma, and his wife, Catalina de la Cerda. It is also worth noting that the Duke of Tarifa, before his death, expressed his willingness to deliver to the Prado Museum some works from his collection, from Medinaceli's, among which are the Portrait of Philip III and his wife, Margaret of Austria, also made by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz. Attached is a report on the work of Mr. Enrique Valdivieso, issued in Seville on March 22, 2013. Measurements: 198 x 170 cm.