Charles IV of Spain as Huntsmanc. 1799/1800

This painting shows a man standing upright, his body slightly turned to the right. He has pale skin and curled white hair under a large black hat, and he wears a long brown jacket over a yellow vest with a white ruffled neck and a wide blue-and-white striped sash over his torso. His pants are black, and he wears tall black boots with brown tops. His hands are covered by yellow gloves, and he is holding a tall, thin rifle on the left, its bottom on the ground. Next to him on the right is a white dog with brown spots and large brown ears. The dog is sitting, looking up at the man. The background features an outdoor setting, with a landscape of hazy hills in shades of pale green and blue below a white and gray sky. There is a tall, dark green tree behind the man, and the ground he stands on is brown.

Description from the National Gallery of Art.

An unrecorded Spanish artist painted this in about 1799/1800. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

How it was made

Oil paint

Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.