The Arduous Search for a Court Artist: Michel-Ange Houasse and Andrea Procaccini Portraitist of Philip V

Abstract

Despite the importance that Philip V and his wives granted to their own image, for almost half of his reign they were unable to find a portrait painter to depict them to their entire satisfaction. In this period, there were several artists at the service of the crown who took on this assignment without attaining the approval of the monarchs. The article focuses especially on two of the most gifted, the French Michel-Ange Houasse and the Italian Andrea Procaccini, delving into the reasons why they did not succeed in this task and proposing new attributions to their scarce catalogs.

Keywords

• felipe v
• isabel de farnesio
• michel ange houasse
• andrea procaccini
• retrato cortesano.