From the time Carreño de Miranda was appointed court painter by the regent Mariana of Austria (1634-1696) in 1671, Charles II (1661-1700) was portrayed several times over the years, always in the same space, the or Hall of Mirrors at the Alcázar of Madrid, with only small variations in relation to the first piece done in 1671, which is currently conserved in the Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias.

Although the composition is based on the Velázquez model of the state portrait, all of its elements are part of an iconographic programme meant to reinforce the concept of royal power. The lions and the eagles are heraldic symbols of the Spanish Monarchy and Empire; the heavy red curtains embroidered with gold and with rich tassels, a symbol of nobility; and the rays of Jupiter in the top part of the mirrors represent the tools for punishing those who dared defy the power of the king or the gods.

The young king, still a child of thirteen or fourteen years of age, appears dressed soberly in black silk, with the

 Order of the Golden Fleece 

a chivalric order founded in 1429 in Burgundy by Phillip the Good (1396-1467) following the model of the Order of the Garter founded in 1348 by Edward III. Based on a defence of chivalry and Christian values, but also political ones, it was a dynastic order that established ties of brotherhood. Conferral was seen as a reward or recognition of excellence. Its insignia consists of a chain decorated with blue and red enamelled stones, from which hangs the figure of an enamelled gold fleece. The chain is no longer hereditary, its numbers are limited and it must be returned to the Royal House on the death of its holder.

(symbol of the protectors of the faith) on his chest and a sword in his belt, with a memorandum in his right hand and a feathered slouch hat in the left, which he rests on the pietra dura buffet supported by bronze lions.

Behind him, on the wall, hang two mirror with frames crowned with the imperial eagles representing the dynasty, one of which reflects the profile and the straight mane of the monarch, as well as some of the thirty-one paintings that used to hang in the drawing room, among which we can discern an equestrian figure that could be the Portrait of Philip IV (1628) done by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) which was lost in the fire of the Alcázar, and the painting of The torture of the giant Tityus by Titian (nowadays conserved in the Prado). The representations in both canvases would fall into the aforementioned iconographic programme; the first one alludes to the legitimacy of the portrayed, while the second recalls the punishment to be met by those who challenged his authority.

The paleness of his face speaks of his frail health, which would worsen over the years. Although the monarch is seen ageing in the different portraits, his size relative to that of the furniture remains unchanged, as we can glean from the position of the handle in relation to the desk and the overall composition.

There are several versions of this portrait model (in the Kaiser Friederich Museum, in Berlin, the Prado museum, the Musée de Valenciennes, the Monastery of El Escorial, or the Cook Collection in Richmond). This work, of the highest quality, must be dated between 1673 and 1675, the latter of which was the year when the king came of age, and when several versions of the portrait must have been done to be shown in various official places.