Abstract:
At the Habsburg and Bourbon courts of early modem Spain, hunting served as an
important regal pastime. It was regarded as both necessary training for warfare and an
important court ritual. As a result, Spanish royal hunting portraits comprise a distinct geme
of portraiture, one with its own set of conventions and iconography that encode monarchic
power. This thesis investigates the evolution of Spanish royal hunting portraits from the
reign of Philip IV (r. 1621-1665) to that of Charles IV (r. 1789-1808). It focuses in
particular on works by Diego Velazquez (1599-1660) and Francisco Goya (1746-1828).