"Gustos femeninos en la corte barroca. Los retratos de Isabel de Borbón y Mariana de Austria"

Women’s fashion has been a steadfast symbol of power and distinction throughout history. In the Baroque Spain, - marked by artifice, theatricality and opulence- the clothing of royal women set a definitive tend for the aristocratic and affluent classes of society, while simultaneously reaffirming their own roles of authority and sovereignty, as well as their privileged and esteemed status. The 17th century portrait offers a valuable lens through which to discover and contextualize that the clothing showed a compendium of tastes on the part of the two wives of Philip IV, marked by the place of birth and the country in which they reigned. This paper analyzes a series of portraits of both queens, created not only by renowned authors such as Velázquez or Rubens, but also by lesser-known or anonymous painters. Each of these works is analyzed to appreciate the taste and fashion of the Spanish royalty of the time, and as a reflection of the personality and way of being of both sovereigns.