Spanish School, ca. 1555."Portrait of Philip, Prince of Asturias.Oil on oak panel.Provenance: Private collection, England 18th century (wax seal).Size: 23,5 x 19 cm; 32,5 x 28 cm (frame).The composition of this portrait shows a three-quarter portrait in which the sitter makes up almost the entire surface of the panel. The sitter is arranged with a certain rigidity and gallantry, a sensation that is heightened by the gesture of his face. The sitter does not face the viewer but is turned slightly away from him, looking at a point on the outside of the painting, a vague place. The inscription in the upper right and the facial features make it possible to determine that the sitter is Philip II. These can be compared with other portraits of the period, such as Moro's, or Titian's, which shows Philip II as a prince, with the same facial features that can be seen in this work. Philip II (Valladolid, 1527-San Lorenzo de El Escorial, 1598) was the son and heir of Charles I of Spain and Isabella of Portugal, brother of Mary of Austria and Joanna of Austria, grandson by paternal line of Joanna I of Castile and Philip I of Castile and of Manuel I of Portugal and Mary of Aragon. He died on 13 September 1598 at the age of 71, in the monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, for which he was brought from Madrid. From the time of his death he was presented by his defenders as an archetype of virtue, and by his enemies as an extremely fanatical and despotic person. This dichotomy between the white legend and the black legend was fostered by his own actions, as he refused to have biographies of himself published during his lifetime and ordered the destruction of his correspondence. Anglo-Saxon and Protestant historiography has described him as a fanatic, despotic, criminal, imperialist and genocidal being, minimising his victories to the point of anecdote and magnifying his defeats to excess. Suffice it as an example the loss of part of the Great and Most Happy Armada, called the Invincible Armada by its enemies due to a heavy storm, which was transformed into an English victory.Around the same time that Titian portrayed the future Philip II in Italy (1549-51), Antonio Moro, a painter trained both in the Flemish precision of his master, the Romanist Han van Scorel, and in his admiration for Titian, made his appearance in the Habsburg circle. Over the years Moro rose through the ranks, being protected by the most prominent figures at court until he was appointed official painter to Philip II in 1554. Moro trained with the Romanist painter Jan van Scorel, an outstanding portraitist and an excellent connoisseur of the Italian cultural world as he had visited the peninsula on several occasions. The young artist thus became acquainted with the principles of technique and applied aesthetics.