Best Pamono Circle of Pierre Gobert, Portraits Philip V King of Spain & Luisa Savoy Gobert, 1720, Oil on Canvases, Framed, Set of 2

Pair of Portraits
Portrait of Philip V, King of Spain (Versailles 1683 – Madrid 1746)
Portrait of Queen Louise of Savoy (1688-1714), Princess of Savoy and first wife of Philip V of Spain

Oils on panels mounted on canvas (2)
41 x 33 cm.
in an antique frame 50 x 42 cm.

It is easy to identify the subjects in this fascinating pair of portraits as the reigning Philip V of Bourbon (Versailles, 1683 – Madrid, 1746), King of Spain, and Maria Luisa of Savoy (Turin, 1688 – Madrid, 1714), Princess of Savoy, and his first wife.

Crowned king in 1700, at the behest of his predecessor Charles II of Habsburg, he adopted for several years in his portraits the seventeenth-century attire still in use at the Madrid court, clearly with legitimacy in mind. He thus sports a black satin costume with wide sleeves and a stiff white Spanish collar. He also wears the blue sash of the Order of the Holy Spirit and the collar of the Habsburg Order of the Golden Fleece: this union of the two principal orders of France and Spain heralded the possibility of a union between the two crowns.

The queen, the third daughter of Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, Duke of Savoy and future King of Sicily, and his wife, Anne Marie of Bourbon-Orléans, is also portrayed smiling toward the viewer; she wears a wig with her hair gathered at the nape of her neck and a tiara on her head, and a sober dark dress, following the same principle adopted by her husband.

The execution style of the two portraits is typical of Pierre Gobert (Fontainebleau 1662 – Paris 1744), one of the most significant and sought-after portrait painters of his time and a leading exponent of the French school, working in France at the courts of Louis XIV and then Louis XV. Throughout his career, he received numerous commissions, requiring a complex workshop. It is therefore likely that the paintings were created by one of his direct collaborators, active in the early 18th century.

The pair of works is presented in very good condition, with beautiful carved and gilded wooden frames, also in excellent condition.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The paintings are sold with a certificate of authenticity and a descriptive iconographic sheet.