3-097-655 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Reccared II, c1858. Imaginary portrait of Reccared II (died 621 AD/CE), Visigothic king of Spain, who succeeded Sisebut in 621 and preceded Suintila. He was King of Hispania, Septimania and Gallaecia. 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 project, a Chronological Series of the Kings of Spain, had a clear political purpose: to legitimize the sovereign's rights during a period characterized by a relentless struggle against female power.