Portrait of Infanta Margarita Teresa

Portrait of Infanta Margarita Teresa, painted around 1654 when she was about three years old, is among the earliest of the series of portraits of Philip IV's daughter that Velázquez made across the final years of his life. The young Infanta, who would become the subject of Las Meninas in 1656, is shown here in the elaborate court costume appropriate to a Spanish princess — the wide farthingale, the silver and rose fabric, the jewelry that announced her dynastic identity. Velázquez's ability to suggest the specific character of a small child within the formal constraints of royal representation — the particular alertness of the Infanta's face above her stiff dress — gives these early Margarita portraits their characteristic combination of official statement and personal observation.

The tiny princess is rendered with the warm affection that characterizes all Velazquez's portraits of Margarita. The elaborate dress — pink silk with silver embroidery — is painted with a fluidity that makes the stiff court costume seem almost weightless.