In the midst of great expectation – there were 60 accredited media – the Bank of Spain has made public the portraits of the kings of Spain commissioned nine months ago from Annie Leibovitz, considered the most important and best paid living photographer in the world. The photos were taken on February 7 at the Royal Palace of Madrid: For five hours, the kings posed for Leibovitz in the Gasparini Hall.
The bank paid Leibovitz 137,000 euros of public money for the portraits. As it was commissioned by the Bank of Spain and not official portraits, It was the author who made the decisions about the image of the kings. During the presentation of the photographs, Yolanda Romero Gomezart historian and head of conservatorship and heritage at the Bank of Spain, stated that “the artist had absolute freedomfrom the choice of setting to the clothing.”
Anne Leibovitz’s work is characterized by capturing important characters in intimate moments, but on this occasion He preferred to represent a formal and protocol scene.
He King Felipe VI wears the dress uniform of the Army and is surrounded by all the elements of the classic portrait “from the mirror, to the table, a chandelier or an open door with curtains,” explained Romero. However, Leibovitz wanted to capture the queen in a black dress and a fuchsia capeboth made of silk and made by Cristóbal Balenciaga in the late forties and sixties respectively.
The American photographer – who received the Prince of Asturias Award in 2013–, He chose the Gasparini Hall as the location. and in both photographs its details can be seen. It can also be seen in the portrait of the king the Louis XV style astronomical clock, from 1754, known as The shepherd.
The portraits have been made on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the reign of Felipe VIto which are added the 20 years of marriage.
This diptych of the kings is the first portrait of the Bank of Spain in which photography has been used.
Yolanda Romero Gómez pointed out that Instead of being taken on photographic paper, the photos have been captured on fabric. The result remember Las Meninasby Velázquez. “They are very pictorial portraits in whose composition we find allusions to Velázquez, the court portraitist,” Romero explained to EFE. According to her, the famous painter was able to create the illusion in the viewer of attending the scene, “a fact that also appears in Leibovitz’s images.”
The contract with the American photographer also included the portrait of the previous governor Pablo Hernandez de Coswith a cost of 79,000 euros. The three photographs can be seen in the exhibition The tyranny of Cronus which will be open to the public from November 27 to March 29, 2025in the exhibition hall of the Bank of Spain.
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