Prince Baltasar Carlos in Silver

Prince Baltasar Carlos in Silver, at the Wallace Collection, shows the young heir to the Spanish throne in the gleaming silver costume that gives the painting its name. The prince's death at sixteen in 1646 would devastate Philip IV and throw the succession into crisis. Velázquez's uncompromising naturalism and psychological penetration, combined with his revolutionary loose handling of paint in his late work, made him one of the most admired painters in history, his technique anticipating Impressionism and influencing Manet, Sargent, and countless others.

The silver costume provides an extraordinary challenge and opportunity — Velazquez renders the metallic fabric with shimmering, liquid brushwork that captures the way silver thread catches and reflects light. The boy's pink face provides the only warm note against the cool silver and dark background.