"Partial Copy of 'Las Meninas'" by John Phillip (1817-1867)

Partial Copy of "Las Meninas" [by Velásquez]

John Phillip (1817-1867)

1862

Oil on canvas

Royal Academy

The Scottish-born artist John 'Spanish' Phillip had married Richard Dadd's sister Maria in 1846. Sadly, Maria became mentally disturbed like her brother. It was perhaps to recover from the strain of this that Phillip first went to Spain. [Commentary continues below.]

Text and formatting by Jacqueline Banerjee.

© The National Gallery, which kindly made this image available to us for our review of their 2017 exhibition, "Reflections: Van Eyck and the Pre-Raphaelites," in which it featured. [Click on the image to enlarge it, and mouse over the text for links.]

This and two subsequent trips greatly influenced Phillip's painting, which in turn introduced the Victorians to the work of the Spanish Old Masters. But his best-known painting is probably his portrait of Prince Albert in Highland dress. In view of this connection, it might well be true that it was the Queen herself who first gave Phillip the "Spanish" in his name (see Carter 866).

Related Material

"Reflections: Van Eyck and the Pre-Raphaelites" (see the discussion here)

Bibliography

"Artist of the Month: September 2014: John Phillip RA. Royal Academy. Web. 23 October 2017.

Carter, Charles. "The Scottish Phillip of Spain." Country Life, Vol. 141 (1967): 866-67.

Created 23 October 2017