Description

Mariana of Austria, daughter of the Emperor Ferdinand III and Mary of Hungary, was born in Vienna in 1634. Intended as the wife of her cousin, Prince Baltasar Carlos, who died in 1646, she then married his uncle Philip IV of Spain. The issue of this marriage was the Infanta Margarita, Prince Felipe Próspero and Prince Charles, the future Charles II. Second wife of Philip IV, on his death in 1664 Mariana became Regent until 1675. She died on 16 May 1696. 

Dressed in silks and gauzes and with beautiful jewels and a heavy wig, the Queen is depicted with a few, striking colours, applied with a loose brushstroke that suggests the hair ornaments and the embroidery on the dress rather than clearly defining them. 

Among the portraits of Mariana of Austria by Velázquez to have survived is the full-length one in the Museo del Prado, Madrid, of which there is a version in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.