18. Francisco Goya Y Lucientes (1746-1828)
after Diego Velasquez

Felipe IV, Rey de España

(click on image to print)
Goya, Felipe IV, Rey de España

Felipe IV, Rey de España

Etching, 1778, 369 x 308 mm., Delteil 8, Harris 7 iii/iii, First Edition (1778-79). Superb impression before the platemark was beveled, on heavy laid paper with good margins all around and in fresh condition. Goya’s career as a printmaker essentially began with his great series of etchings after paintings by his countryman Velasquez and they are among the greatest translations of paintings into graphic art in all the history of prints. Felipe IV was the last of the Hapsburg kings of Spain. A dashing figure on his horse, he left the administration of the government to underlings and saw from above the impoverishment of his country.