Cultural depictions of Philip II of Spain
Encyclopedia
Philip II of Spain
has inspired artistic and cultural works for over four centuries, as the most powerful ruler in the Europe of his day, and subsequently a central figure in the "Black Legend
" of Spanish power. The following list covers representations of him in drama, opera, film, novels, and verse. A small selection of the many artistic portrayals of Philip is shown in gallery form.
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
has inspired artistic and cultural works for over four centuries, as the most powerful ruler in the Europe of his day, and subsequently a central figure in the "Black Legend
Black Legend
The Black Legend refers to a style of historical writing that demonizes Spain and in particular the Spanish Empire in a politically motivated attempt to morally disqualify Spain and its people, and to incite animosity against Spanish rule...
" of Spanish power. The following list covers representations of him in drama, opera, film, novels, and verse. A small selection of the many artistic portrayals of Philip is shown in gallery form.
Literature
- The Belgian Charles de CosterCharles De CosterCharles-Theodore-Henri De Coster was a Belgian novelist whose efforts laid the basis for a native Belgian literature....
's 1867 novel The Legend of Thyl Ulenspiegel and Lamme GoedzakThe Legend of Thyl Ulenspiegel and Lamme GoedzakThe Legend of Thyl Ulenspiegel and Lamme Goedzak is a 1867 novel by Charles De Coster. Based on the 14th century Low German figure Till Eulenspiegel, Coster's novel recounts the allegorical adventures as those of a Flemish prankster Thyl Ulenspiegel during the Reformation wars in the...
depicts Philip II in a highly unsympathetic light. The narrative recounts the adventures of the GeuzenGeuzenGeuzen was a name assumed by the confederacy of Calvinist Dutch nobles and other malcontents, who from 1566 opposed Spanish rule in the Netherlands. The most successful group of them operated at sea, and so were called Watergeuzen...
, or Sea Beggars, who fought against the Spanish occupation of the Southern NetherlandsSouthern NetherlandsSouthern Netherlands were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain , Austria and annexed by France...
, and imagines the legendary figure of Thyl UlenspiegelTill EulenspiegelTill Eulenspiegel was an impudent trickster figure originating in Middle Low German folklore. His tales were disseminated in popular printed editions narrating a string of lightly connected episodes that outlined his picaresque career, primarily in Germany, the Low Countries and France...
fighting on their side. Critic Jonathan Nield describes the work as "of unmistakable power, if somewhat coarse in tone". - Margaret IrwinMargaret IrwinMargaret Emma Faith Irwin was an English author of several important historical novels, as well as a factual biography of Sir Walter Raleigh.- Biography :...
wrote Elizabeth and the Prince of Spain (1953), a historical novel about Princess ElizabethElizabeth I of EnglandElizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
's imprisonment and survival during the uneasy marriage between Philip and Queen Mary IMary I of EnglandMary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
. The novel was the third in Irwin's "Young Bess" trilogy. - Jean PlaidyEleanor HibbertEleanor Hibbert was a British author who wrote under various pen names. Her best-known pseudonyms were Jean Plaidy, Victoria Holt, and Philippa Carr; she also wrote under the names Eleanor Burford, Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow, Anne Percival, and Ellalice Tate...
wrote Spanish Bridegroom (1954), a historical novelHistorical novelAccording to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
about Philip's first three marriages. - The plot of Carlos FuentesCarlos FuentesCarlos Fuentes Macías is a Mexican writer and one of the best-known living novelists and essayists in the Spanish-speaking world. He has influenced contemporary Latin American literature, and his works have been widely translated into English and other languages.-Biography:Fuentes was born in...
's novel Terra NostraTerra Nostra (novel)Terra Nostra is a 1975 novel by the Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes. The narrative covers 20 centuries of European and American culture, and prominently features the construction of El Escorial by Philip II. The title is Latin for "Our earth"...
(Mexico, 1975) revolves around the construction of Philip II's combined monastery and palace of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in the Sierra de GuadarramaSierra de GuadarramaThe Sierra de Guadarrama is a mountain range forming the main eastern section of the Sistema Central, the system of mountain ranges at the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. It is located between the Sierra de Gredos in the province of Ávila, and Sierra de Ayllón in the province of Guadalajara...
near MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. Critic Raymond L. Williams has explained that Fuentes modelled the tripartite structure of Terra Nostra on that of the Escorial, where Philip consciously set out to create a world apart. The novel makes the architecture a metaphor for Spain's imperial stance towards the New World. - Harry TurtledoveHarry TurtledoveHarry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
's alternate history novel Ruled BritanniaRuled BritanniaRuled Britannia is an alternate history novel by Harry Turtledove, first published in hardcover and paperback by Roc Books in 2002.-Plot introduction :The book is set in the year 1597, in an alternate universe where the Spanish Armada is successful...
(2002) imagines a world in which the Spanish ArmadaSpanish ArmadaThis article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
succeeded and King Philip conquered England, a theme anticipated, suggests literary scholar Anne J. Cruz, by the Spanish novelist Miguel de CervantesMiguel de CervantesMiguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written...
(1547–1616). - In Philippa GregoryPhilippa GregoryPhilippa Gregory is an English novelist.-Early life and academic career:Philippa Gregory was born in Kenya. When she was two years old, her family moved to England. She was a "rebel" at school, but managed to attend the University of Sussex...
's novel The Queen's FoolThe Queen's FoolThe Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory is a 2004 historical fiction novel. Set between 1548 and 1558, it is part of Philippa Gregory's Tudor series. The series includes The Boleyn Inheritance...
(2004), set in the court of Mary I of EnglandMary I of EnglandMary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
, Princess Elizabeth flirts with Mary's husband King Philip. The plot, observes reviewer Emma Hagestadt, "burns with passions with which Freud—let alone the Church—would have a field day".
Film
- Sam De GrasseSam De GrasseSamuel Alfred De Grasse was a Canadian actor. Born in Bathurst, New Brunswick, he trained to be a dentist....
in In the Palace of the KingIn the Palace of the KingIn the Palace of the King is a 1923 silent film historical drama based on the novel by F. Marion Crawford and was directed by Emmett J. Flynn. A previous silent version had been made and released in 1915 by the Essanay company. Prior to the films the story saw Broadway in a 1900 production...
(1923) - Raymond MasseyRaymond MasseyRaymond Hart Massey was a Canadian/American actor.-Early life:Massey was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Anna , who was born in Illinois, and Chester Daniel Massey, the wealthy owner of the Massey-Ferguson Tractor Company. Massey's family could trace their ancestry back to the American...
in Fire Over EnglandFire Over EnglandFire Over England is a 1937 London Film Productions film drama, notable for providing the first pairing of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. It was directed by William K. Howard and written by Clemence Dane from the novel Fire Over England by A. E. W. Mason. Leigh's performance in the movie...
(1937) - Montagu LoveMontagu LoveMontagu Love , also known as Montague Love, was an English screen, stage and vaudeville actor.Born Harry Montague Love in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, and educated in Great Britain, Love began his career as an artist and military correspondent. His first important job was as a London newspaper...
in The Sea HawkThe Sea HawkThe Sea Hawk is a novel by Rafael Sabatini, originally published in 1915. The story is set over the years 1588–1593, and concerns a retired Cornish sea-faring gentleman, Sir Oliver Tressilian, who is villainously betrayed by a jealous half-brother. After being forced to serve as a slave on a ...
(1940) - Howard FreemanHoward FreemanHoward Freeman was an American stage actor of the early 20th century, and film and television actor of the 1940s through the 1960s....
in Monsieur BeaucaireMonsieur Beaucaire (1946 film)Monsieur Beaucaire is a 1946 comedy film starring Bob Hope as the title character, the barber of King Louis XV of France. It is loosely based on the novel of the same name by Booth Tarkington.-Cast:*Bob Hope as Monsieur Beaucaire*Joan Caulfield as Mimi...
(1946) - Paul ScofieldPaul ScofieldDavid Paul Scofield, CH, CBE , better known as Paul Scofield, was an English actor of stage and screen...
in That LadyThat LadyThat Lady is a 1955 film directed by Terence Young. It stars Olivia de Havilland, Gilbert Roland and Paul Scofield.The film is based on the 1946 historical novel by Kate O'Brien, which was published in North America under the title For One Sweet Grape. The novel was also produced as a play in 1949....
(1955) - Günther Ballier in Der Richter von ZalameaDer Richter von ZalameaDer Richter von Zalamea is an East German film. It was released in 1956....
(1956) - Fernando ReyFernando ReyFernando Casado Arambillet , best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and TV actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States...
in El GrecoEl Greco (1966 film)El Greco is a 1966 drama film and movie biography of the master painter El Greco directed by Luciano Salce and starring Mel Ferrer and Rosanna Schiaffino.-Cast:* Mel Ferrer - El Greco * Rosanna Schiaffino - Jeronima de las Cuevas...
(1966) - Fernando ReyFernando ReyFernando Casado Arambillet , best known as Fernando Rey, was a Spanish film, theatre, and TV actor, who worked in both Europe and the United States...
in CervantesCervantes (film)Cervantes is a highly fictionalized 1967 film biography of the early life of Miguel de Cervantes . It was the first screen biography of the author...
(1967) - Peter JeffreyPeter JeffreyPeter Jeffrey was a British actor with many roles in television and film.Jeffrey was born in Bristol, the son of Florence Alice and Arthur Winfred Gilbert Jeffrey. He was educated at Harrow School and Pembroke College, Cambridge but had no formal training as an actor...
in Elizabeth RElizabeth RElizabeth R is a BBC television drama serial of six 85-minute plays starring Glenda Jackson in the title role. It was first broadcast on BBC2 from February to March 1971, through the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Australia and broadcast in America on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre.- Episodes...
(1971) - George Yiasoumi in ElizabethElizabeth (film)Elizabeth is a 1998 biographical film written by Michael Hirst, directed by Shekhar Kapur, and starring Cate Blanchett in the title role of Queen Elizabeth I of England, alongside Geoffrey Rush, Christopher Eccleston, Joseph Fiennes, Sir John Gielgud, Fanny Ardant and Richard Attenborough...
(1998) - Jordi MolláJordi MollàJordi Mollá Perales is a Spanish actor, filmmaker, writer and artist.Mollà's artwork is represented in the Carmen De la Guerra Gallery in Madrid, Picasso Mio Gallery in Madrid and Barcelona and Cold Creation Gallery in Barcelona...
in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) - Juanjo Puigcorbé in La Conjura de El EscorialLa Conjura de El EscorialLa Conjura de El Escorial is a 2008 Spanish historical drama film directed by Antonio del Real and starring Jason Isaacs, Julia Ormond, Jordi Mollà, Pilar Bastardés and Jürgen Prochnow. It is set in the reign of Philip II of Spain and takes its name from the Escorial palace.-Cast:*Jason Isaacs ......
(2008)
Theater
- Philip's marriage to his third wife Elisabeth of ValoisElisabeth of ValoisElisabeth of Valois was the eldest daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici.-Early life:She was born in the Château de Fontainebleau...
and problems with his first son Carlos, Prince of Asturias, may be alluded to in Lope de VegaLope de VegaFélix Arturo Lope de Vega y Carpio was a Spanish playwright and poet. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Century Baroque literature...
's 1631 drama Castigo sin venganza (Punishment without Revenge). In the view of the play's translator and editor Gwynne Edwards: "The relationship in the play between Casandra, the Duke's wife, and his son Federico was not unlike that between Prince Carlos, son of Philip II, and Isabel [Elisabeth] who became Philip's wife and Carlos's stepmother"; Edwards argues that these events were recent enough to have embarrassed the court of Philip IVPhilip IV of SpainPhilip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...
and may have been a reason for the play's withdrawal after one performance. - Philip II is a central character in Friedrich SchillerFriedrich SchillerJohann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
's 1787 play Don CarlosDon Carlos (play)Don Carlos is a historical tragedy in five acts by Friedrich Schiller; it was written between 1783 and 1787 and first produced in Hamburg in 1787...
. Schiller drew his material from the 17th-century novel Dom Carlos by Abbé César Vichard de Saint-RéalCésar Vichard de Saint-RéalCésar Vichard de Saint-Réal was a French polygraph.He was born in Chambéry, Savoy, but educated in Lyon by the Jesuits. He used to work in the royal library with Antoine Varillas. This French historiographer influenced the way Saint-Réal wrote history...
The plot follows the relationship between a King Philip obsessed with the Spanish NetherlandsSouthern NetherlandsSouthern Netherlands were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain , Austria and annexed by France...
and his first son, Prince Carlos. - The English Poet Laureate John MasefieldJohn MasefieldJohn Edward Masefield, OM, was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967...
wrote a verse play, Philip the King, about Philip receiving news of the defeat of the Armada. It was featured as part of a collection of poems called Philip the King and Other Poems (1916).
Opera
- Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's 1867 operatic adaptation of the play, Don CarlosDon CarlosDon Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
, has been called "one of his most human operas".
Poem
- In his 1915 epic poemEpic poetryAn epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
, Lepanto, the Catholic G. K. ChestertonG. K. ChestertonGilbert Keith Chesterton, KC*SG was an English writer. His prolific and diverse output included philosophy, ontology, poetry, plays, journalism, public lectures and debates, literary and art criticism, biography, Christian apologetics, and fiction, including fantasy and detective fiction....
commemorated the response of Philip and his brother Don John of Austria to the Ottoman TurksOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, which climaxed in the Christian victory at the Battle of Lepanto (1571)Battle of Lepanto (1571)The Battle of Lepanto took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic maritime states, decisively defeated the main fleet of the Ottoman Empire in five hours of fighting on the northern edge of the Gulf of Patras, off western Greece...
. Chesterton's poem was conceived as "a call to Christians to take action action against the modern forces of unbelief". It contrasts King Philip, occupied with alchemyAlchemyAlchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
in his chamber at home in Spain, with Don John's activities at sea:
King Philip's in his closet with the Fleece about his neck
(Don John of Austria is armed upon the deck.)
The walls are hung with velvet that is black and soft as sin,
And little dwarfs creep out of it and little dwarfs creep in.
He holds a crystal phial that has colours like the moon,
He touches, and it tingles, and he trembles very soon,
And his face is as a fungus of a leprous white and grey
Like plants in the high houses that are shuttered from the day,
And death is in the phial, and the end of noble work,
But Don John of Austria has fired upon the Turk.
Portraits
- In this portrait, Philip is wearing the Order of the Golden FleeceOrder of the Golden FleeceThe Order of the Golden Fleece is an order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It evolved as one of the most prestigious orders in Europe...
and dressed in black armour similar to that made for him by Desiderius Colman of Augsburg, with gold damaskDamaskDamask is a reversible figured fabric of silk, wool, linen, cotton, or synthetic fibers, with a pattern formed by weaving. Damasks are woven with one warp yarn and one weft yarn, usually with the pattern in warp-faced satin weave and the ground in weft-faced or sateen weave...
work by Jorg Sigman, now in the Real Armería de Madrid. The ValencianKingdom of ValenciaThe Kingdom of Valencia , located in the eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon. When the Crown of Aragon merged by dynastic union with the Crown of Castile to form the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Valencia became a component realm of the...
Alonso Sánchez Coello (1531/2–1588) was a pupil of Antonis Mor (1517–1574) and a favourite painter of Philip. - This bronze is believed to have first been cast in 1551. Giorgio VasariGiorgio VasariGiorgio Vasari was an Italian painter, writer, historian, and architect, who is famous today for his biographies of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing.-Biography:...
notes that the Milan-based Leone Leoni (1509–1590) also made heads of Philip and of Charles VCharles V, Holy Roman EmperorCharles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
. His son Pompeo Leoni (c. 1533–1608) produced a bust of Philip, c. 1556, painted silver, and later worked on the royal chapel at Phlip's palace of El Escorial. - As he grew into middle age, the pious Philip favoured an austere style of dress for himself and his court. He is depicted here, as usual, wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece, and he holds a rosaryRosaryThe rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...
. The painting has traditionally been identified as by Sánchez Coello because of the stylistic similarity with his portrait of Anne of Austria. More recently, however, it has been attributed to Sofonisba AnguissolaSofonisba AnguissolaSofonisba Anguissola was an Italian painter of the Renaissance.-The Anguissola family:...
, the artist from CremonaCremonaCremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
who served as lady-in-waiting to Philip's third wife, Elisabeth of ValoisElisabeth of ValoisElisabeth of Valois was the eldest daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici.-Early life:She was born in the Château de Fontainebleau...
, and painted the royal family, often working closely with Sánchez Coello. - Sánchez Coello’s successor as royal painter was his pupil Juan Pantoja de la CruzJuan Pantoja de la CruzJuan Pantoja de La Cruz Spanish painter, one of the best representatives of the Spanish school of court painters. He worked for Philip II and Philip III. The Museo del Prado contains examples of his severe portraiture style.- Life :Juan Pantoja de La Cruz was, born 1553 in Valladolid...
(1553–1608), who painted this portrait of Philip in old age and went on to serve under Philip's son Philip IIIPhilip III of SpainPhilip III , also known as Philip the Pious, was the King of Spain and King of Portugal and the Algarves, where he ruled as Philip II , from 1598 until his death...
. In 1593, the Venetian ambassador Contarini reported that problems of debt, famine, and the succession "trouble the king's spirit and do much harm to his appearance". As described by the historian Henry Kamen, Pantoja de la Cruz’s portrait "reflects perfectly the wastage of the years. Philip stands erect, dressed from tip to toe in black, with the Fleece as his only ornament. His face is ashen white, the same colour as his beard and hair. The lips sag. His eyes now … are weary, the lids half-closed". In the view of the art historian Jonathan Brown, Pantoja de la Cruz continued the style of Sánchez Coello but added the influence of Flemish painters, particularly of Rubens, resulting in a freer technique and greater psychological penetration.
Allegories
- Mixing portraiture and allegoryAllegoryAllegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
, this ElizabethanElizabethan eraThe Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...
painting shows Henry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
and his three children alongside figures from mythology. Henry died in 1547, but his daughter Mary is shown on the left of the painting next to her husband, Philip, whom she did not marry until 1554 when she was queen. Mars, god of warMars (mythology)Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...
, looming behind the couple, symbolises their wars. Owing to a similarity of style and composition with Lucas de Heere's Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (1559) and other works, the art historian Roy StrongRoy StrongSir Roy Colin Strong FRSL is an English art historian, museum curator, writer, broadcaster and landscape designer. He has been director of both the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London...
has attributed the work to de Heere (1534–1584). The art scholar and curator Karen Hearn, however, regards the attribution as speculative. Another source for the composition may be the group portrait The Family of Henry VIII (c. 1545). Prototypes for the figures of Philip and Mary are found in the portraits of Anthonis Mor. - TitianTitianTiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...
’s allegorical canvas, painted in the artist's nineties when he had not seen Philip for many years, celebrates both the victory of the Holy League over the Ottoman TurksOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
at the Battle of LepantoBattle of Lepanto (1571)The Battle of Lepanto took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic maritime states, decisively defeated the main fleet of the Ottoman Empire in five hours of fighting on the northern edge of the Gulf of Patras, off western Greece...
in 1571 and the birth shortly afterwards of a male heir to Philip, Don FernandoFerdinand, Prince of AsturiasFerdinand of Spain was the son of Philip II of Spain and Anna of Austria.When Ferdinand was born, he was proclaimed Prince of Asturias, his half-brother Charles having died three years previously. Ferdinand died when he was 6 years old and the new prince of Asturias was his younger brother...
. The two events were seen as signs of God's favour. The battle is shown in the background, and a bound and defeated Turk slumps at Philip's feet. The king holds Fernando up to an angel, to receive a palm branch with the motto: "Majora tibi" (may you achieve greater deeds). A favourite artist of King Philip, Titian died in 1576, and Prince Fernando followed in 1578. Lepanto effectively ended Ottoman ambitions in the western Mediterranean. - El GrecoEl GrecoEl Greco was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El Greco" was a nickname, a reference to his ethnic Greek origin, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος .El Greco was born on Crete, which was at...
may have painted The Adoration of the Name of Jesus in an attempt to win favour with King Philip, but he never achieved that aim. The subject is based on a text in PaulPauline epistlesThe Pauline epistles, Epistles of Paul, or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen New Testament books which have the name Paul as the first word, hence claiming authorship by Paul the Apostle. Among these letters are some of the earliest extant Christian documents...
but may also be read as an allegory of the Holy League's victory over the Ottoman fleet at Lepanto in 1571. The black-clad figure in the foreground is identifiable as King Philip; the man in the yellow robe as a dogeDogeDoge is a dialectal Italian word that descends from the Latin dux , meaning "leader", especially in a military context. The wife of a Doge is styled a Dogaressa....
of Venice; the old man opposite him as the pope; and the figure on the left as Philip's brother John of Austria, the commander of the Christian fleet. In the heavens shines a monogramMonogramA monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos. A series of uncombined initials is properly referred to as a...
formed from IHS, the first three letters of the name Jesus in Greek—also In Hoc Signo and Jesus Hominum Salvator. A larger version of the painting, a votive altarpiece called The Dream of Philip II, is in the EscorialEl EscorialThe Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El Escorial is a historical residence of the king of Spain, in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, about 45 kilometres northwest of the capital, Madrid, in Spain. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, royal palace, museum, and...
, Spain. - The Milch Cow was probably completed in the period following the visit to Queen Elizabeth's court in 1581–1582 of François, Duke of AnjouFrançois, Duke of AnjouFrancis, Duke of Anjou and Alençon was the youngest son of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici.-Early years:...
, brother of King Henry III of FranceHenry III of FranceHenry III was King of France from 1574 to 1589. As Henry of Valois, he was the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.-Childhood:Henry was born at the Royal Château de Fontainebleau,...
, to discuss his marriage proposal and military support for the Anglo-Dutch alliance against the Spanish. Anjou's subsequent mission to the Netherlands met with disaster when the citizens of Antwerp massacred his army in early 1583. This satirical cartoon, one of several painted versions of the joke, depicts a cow which represents the Dutch provinces: King Philip is vainly trying to ride the cow; Queen Elizabeth is feeding it; William of OrangeWilliam III of EnglandWilliam III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
is milking it; and the cow is shitting on the hand of the Duke of Anjou, who is holding its tail. The caption reads:
Not longe time since I sawe a cowe
Did Flaunders represente
Upon whose backe King Philup rode
As being malecontnt.
The Queene of England giving hay
Wheareon the cow did feede,
As one that was her greatest helpe
In her distresse and neede.
The Prince of Orange milkt the cowe
And made his purse the payle.
The cow did shyt in Monsieur's hand
While he did hold her tayle.