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Philip II, King of Spain

1 of 27 portraits of Philip II, King of Spain

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Philip II, King of Spain

after Titian
oil on panel, 1555
3 3/8 in. x 2 1/2 in. (86 mm x 64 mm)
Given by Edward Peter Jones, 1960
Primary Collection
NPG 4175

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Titian (circa 1488-1576), Artist. Artist or producer associated with 44 portraits.

This portraitback to top

This pair of portraits of Philip and Mary are dated 1555 and may have been produced to celebrate their union. It is likely that these images were made in multiple versions, possibly as gifts for courtiers both in England and abroad. Soon after their marriage Mary was thought to be pregnant but by June 1555 this proved untrue, and Philip left England only a few months later.
The likeness of Philip is based on a portrait by the Italian artist Titian which was sent to Mary in late 1553.

Related worksback to top

  • NPG 4174: Queen Mary I (companion portrait)

Linked publicationsback to top

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  • Bolland, Charlotte; Cooper, Tarnya, The Real Tudors: Kings and Queens Rediscovered, 2014 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 12th September 2014 to 1st March 2015), p. 118
  • Cannadine, Sir David (Introduction); Cooper, Tarnya; Stewart, Louise; MacGibbon, Rab; Cox, Paul; Peltz, Lucy; Moorhouse, Paul; Broadley, Rosie; Jascot-Gill, Sabina, Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits, 2018 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, USA, 7 October 2018 -3 February 2019. Bendigo Art Gallery, Australia, 16 March - 14 July 2019.), p. 100 Read entry

    Despite widespread fears of foreign rule, one of Mary’s first acts as queen was to accept her cousin Philip II of Spain’s proposal of marriage. These small companion portraits (NPG 4175 and NPG 4174) derive from a portrait of Philip by the Venetian artist Titian that was sent to England, and a portrait of Mary by the Netherlandish artist Anthonis Mor that was commissioned by Philip’s father, Emperor Charles V. Multiple versions of these images could have been made, possibly as gifts for courtiers both in England and abroad. When Mary was thought to have become pregnant soon after the marriage, it seemed as if the Roman Catholic succession was secured. However, it proved to be a phantom pregnancy, and Philip soon left England, returning only briefly in 1557 in order to gather support for war against France.

  • Cooper, Tarnya, Elizabeth I & Her People, 2013 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 10 October 2013 - 5 January 2014), p. 207
  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 491
  • Strong, Roy, Tudor and Jacobean Portraits, 1969, p. 249

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Events of 1555back to top

Current affairs

Beginning of Queen Mary I's persecution of Protestants. Bishops Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer are denounced as heretics and burned at the stake in Oxford.
Queen Mary suffers a false pregnancy, her husband Philip of Spain leaves England.

Art and science

Richard Eden publishes The Decades of the Newe Worlde or West India, the first account in English of European exploration in the Americas. The book urges England to establish an empire in union with Spain.

International

The Peace of Augsburg between the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the members of the German Protestant Schmalkaldic League. The treaty gives Lutheranism official status within the empire through a policy of cuius regio, eius religio (whose the region, his the religion).
The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V resigns the government of the Netherlands, Naples, and Milan to his son Philip of Spain, husband of Queen Mary I.

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