Portrait of the Infante Don Fernando de Austria

This portrait of the Infante Don Fernando de Austria — Philip III's younger son who would become Cardinal-Infante and Governor of the Spanish Netherlands — dates from 1618, when Fernando was a child at the Spanish court. González produced official portraits of the royal children as part of his court duties, recording the younger members of the Habsburg dynasty for dynastic and diplomatic purposes. Such early portraits documented the succession and were distributed to allied courts.

The young Infante is shown in formal court costume appropriate to his royal status, his bearing already adopting the formal erectness of Spanish court portraiture. González renders the expensive fabric and jewels with the careful precision expected in official dynastic images.