Exhibition: Mariana of Austria

The Prado Museum’s first exhibition dedicated to the promotion of the arts explores how this queen, consort to Philip IV, used art to shape her public image and assert her authority. It forms part of the “El Prado en femenino” project. Through around 100 works, including paintings, sculptures, engravings, textiles and manuscripts, you can discover how Mariana of Austria consolidated her position during a period marked by political uncertainty and the fragility of the dynastic succession. The works by the court painters from her reign are particularly noteworthy: Diego Velázquez, Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo, Sebastián Herra del Mazo and Juan Carreño de Miranda. The exhibition traces the different stages of this monarch’s life and examines how she established her prestige amongst the other European courts. It also reveals the influence exerted at court by other women of the Habsburg dynasty.