Portraits of Court Jesters and Dwarfs

Portraits of the jesters, dwarfs and other entertainers who lived at royal courts, painted with unusual dignity and attention to the sitter as a person. A work belongs here when the cited article names the sitter as a court jester or dwarf. It excludes portraits of the rulers they served, which sit with the portraits of rulers and statesmen. The two portraits were painted for Philip IV of Spain, and they show the sitters seated, in their own clothes, with a gravity that was unusual for the time. It excludes portraits of the royal family they served and of other members of the court. The group follows the sitter as the cited article names the person.