3-097-656 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Alfonso XI of Castile, 1849. Imaginary portrait of Alfonso XI "the Just" (1311-1350), King of Castile and León (1312-1350). In 1847, José de Madrazo, as director of the Royal Museum, was commissioned by Isabella II to create an iconographic genealogy of all her royal ancestors, the so-called Chronological Series of the Kings of Spain. The project had a clear political purpose: to legitimize the sovereign's rights during a period characterized by a relentless struggle against female power.