3-097-658 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Ordoño III, King of León, 1852. Imaginary portrait of Ordoño III (926-956). King of León from 951 to 956. The Chronological Series of the Kings of Spain was a museum project conceived in 1847 by José de Madrazo to adorn four of the new rooms of the Royal Museum of Paintings, then under his direction. Amidst the conflict between the supporters of Isabella II and the Carlists - who denied the sovereign's right to the throne because of her gender - she endorsed the initiative to create and exhibit a gallery of portraits representing, in chronological order, all the monarchs who preceded her. To fill the gap regarding medieval kings, of whom there were no images in the Royal Collections, portraits were commissioned from several young painters.