Luis de Benavides Carillo, Marquis of Caracena, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands

Luis de Benavides Carrillo (1608-1668), Marquis of Caracena, came from Valencia. He had a brilliant military career. In 1658 he succeeded Don Juan II of Austria as governor of the Spanish Netherlands. He had urged Philip IV to found the Antwerp academy, which opened its doors in 1663. As a mark of gratitude the Guild of St Luke decided to…

Luis de Benavides Carrillo (1608-1668), Marquis of Caracena, came from Valencia. He had a brilliant military career. In 1658 he succeeded Don Juan II of Austria as governor of the Spanish Netherlands. He had urged Philip IV to found the Antwerp academy, which opened its doors in 1663. As a mark of gratitude the Guild of St Luke decided to erect a bust of the marquis. In 1664 Artus Quellinus I was commissioned to make the portrait, and the guild provided the marble. The famous sculptor was living in Amsterdam at the time, where he was working on the decoration of the new Town Hall (now the Royal Palace on Dam Square; see also the terracotta model Apollo and Python, KMSKA inv. no. IB00.050). In October he travelled to Brussels to make a clay model ‘from life’. That bozzetto has not survived, but is listed in the probate inventory of Erasmus Quellinus II, the sculptor’s brother, as ‘Marcquis Carracena, geboetseert, scheytse van Artus Quellinus’ (‘Marquis Caracena, modelled, sketch by Artus Quellinus’; 1678). It was not uncommon for a sculptor to hold posing sessions for prestigious commissions, even if it involved travelling to do so. Pensionary Johan de Witt even demanded that Quellinus sketch the hands for his own bust from the live model (Dordrechts Museum, inv. no. DM/871/S1). Sculptors often used their earlier creations as models. Quellinus, for example, based his bust of Benavides on the portrait of Count Frederik III of Schleswig–Holstein–Gottorf that he had made for the count’s family tomb in Schleswig Cathedral (1661). Quellinus borrowed the puffed cuffs, knotted sash and marshal’s baton, which was the token of his military authority. He did add elements as well, such as the ring on Benavides’s left hand and the insignia of the Order of Santiago de Compostella around the neck. Rank and status are pointedly prominent in this realistic portrait. The carefully tended hands, the hair falling in loose curls and the delicate lace collar lying on the armour illustrate the refined culture of rulers and the aristocracy. Earlier works by Quellinus were closer to classical portrait sculpture. The addition of the arms makes the portrait wider, and the truncation at the waist also makes it higher. The motion suggested by the arms, the position of the baton and the slightly turned head diminish the static and taut nature of the sculpture. It is an effect that is reinforced by the three-dimensional treatment of the hair, sash and wide cuffs ballooning out of the armour. Quellinus transformed the dynamism that he had seen in Italy, which is so typical of the Rubens style, and the more classical severity that he observed in the northern Netherlands into a personal repertoire. In that way he was able to adapt to the wishes of his international clientele. This portrait bust was erected next to the door to the Large Painters’ Chamber of the Antwerp Guild of St Luke in the Bourse. There were two other busts in the room, and they too are now in the KMSKA. They are of Juan Domingo de Zuñiga y Fonseca (Lodewijk Willemsens, 1675, KMSKA, inv. no. 753) and Maximiliaan II Emmanuel (Willem Kerricx, 1694, KMSKA, inv. no. 678). The three of them make up an ensemble of governors of the Spanish Netherlands who played important roles in the history of the guild and the academy.