Royal religious commissions as political propaganda in Spain under Charles III (1759-1788)

Abstract

This thesis examines the development of religious painting in Spain in the second half of the 18th century as a tool of political propaganda in the hands of a royal patron, Charles III. The period under study begins with Charles’s arrival in Madrid from Naples in 1759 and ends with his death in 1788. During the first decade of his reign, Charles embarked on an ambitious programme of political and religious reform. In the ecclesiastical sphere, he sought to assert his power and enhance his popularity by appointing bishops independently of the Papacy. He also sought Papal support for the elevation of the popular doctrine of the Immaculate Conception to the status of dogma. His policies, known collectively in Spanish under the term “regalismo”, were welcomed by some people, notably intellectuals influenced by the theories of the French Enlightenment. But they encountered fierce opposition from other quarters, including the Jesuits and the Inquisition. Drawing on material in official and ecclesiastical archives, as well as on surviving visual material and published analysis, this thesis sheds light on the complex interplay between religious art and politics during the period, notably in the context of Spain’s frequently tense relations with the Papacy.