Alfons III the Liberal

Jaume Mateu's Alfons III the Liberal, dated 1427 and also in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, is a companion portrait to his James I the Conqueror from the same series of retrospective Aragonese royal portraits. Alfons III, who reigned from 1285 to 1291, was called 'the Liberal' for his grants of privileges to the Aragonese nobility and the Catalan courts, and his reign was seen as a consolidation of the constitutional monarchy that distinguished the Crown of Aragon from the absolutist model of other Iberian kingdoms. These royal portraits served an important function in asserting the historical legitimacy of the dynasty and the constitutional traditions of the realm.

Mateu renders Alfons in the retrospective portrait convention of the period: idealized features, royal insignia, and a pose that asserts dignity and authority. The style is consistent with the companion James I portrait, suggesting they were conceived as a series with a unified visual program. Colors are heraldically bold and clear.