Charles IV (Carlos IV)

This painting, like its companion piece, was painted to commemorate the coronation of the king and queen in January of 1789. In these two works, Goya used a new, full-length composition, which shares certain characteristics with the half-length one, of which several replicas exist, and which was conceived and executed around the same time.

The king is portrayed here standing, looking straight out at the viewer, dressed in a salmon-coloured dress coat adorned with silver detailing and a white and silver jacket. Around his waist he wears a ceremonial sword and on his chest are the necklace of the Order of the Golden Fleece, the sash of San Genaro and the original sash of the Order of Charles III. In his right hand he is firmly grasping his baton. On the right-hand side, in the background, we can see the royal symbols: the crown and the purple ermine-lined robe. Completing the decoration is a striking, and rather ostentatious, orangish-coloured curtain, which is draped over a desk on the left-hand side.