The Question of Success in Seventeenth-Century Spanish Propaganda

Abstract

When beginning my research on the two seventeenth-century battle paintings by Velazquez and Maino, Surrender of Breda and Recapture of Bahia, I frequently encountered information concerning the declining state of the Spanish Monarchy. When describing the problems of Philip IV's government, many historians identified the Count-Duke of Olivares, Philip's first minister, as the main obstacle to the needed restoration of Spanish greatness. Because the two paintings upon which my research focused were housed in the Buen Retiro, a palace that Olivares had constructed for his king during the 1630s, my inquiries turned to the paintings inside and their influences, in addition to information about the count-duke and the declining condition of Spain. . . . Because I never encountered "facts" about the Spanish reception of the paintings by Velazquez and Maino, I set out to recreate a generalized opinion by incorporating the messages within the paintings with information about Olivares and his policies, sentiments about his placement within the government, and facts about the reality of the declining Spanish Monarchy. At the end of this paper I try to convince my readers of two points: that the paintings by Velazquez and Maino were both successful pieces of art, but not successful for restoring hope in the Spanish people concerning their king and his first minister. In my attempt to prove these themes, I have synthesized ideas on art, literature, history and opinion. [From Preface]