The family of Philip V in 1738

Louis-Michel van Loo painted this family portrait of Philip V of Spain in 1738, showing the Bourbon king with his extended family. Van Loo, from a dynasty of French painters, served as court painter in Madrid, producing the official dynastic portraits that documented the Spanish Bourbon succession. The work exemplifies Rococo's preoccupation with pleasure, elegance, and intimate scale, reflecting the taste of an aristocracy that commissioned paintings for private apartments rather than...

Van Loo arranges the large royal family group with formal precision and careful attention to the elaborate court costumes and royal insignia. The rich palette and the grand scale demonstrate the French court portrait tradition adapted to the Spanish setting.