Mariana’s Linage: The Political Aspects of Claudio Coello’s Portrait

The Habsburg continuity in the Catholic monarchy is represented by the House of Bavaria, or at least that was what Mariana struggled to achieve in the last years of her life. The Electress of Bavaria was the daughter of Leopold I and Infanta Margarita, Mariana’s daughter. Maria Antonia’s son, Maximillian Emmanuel of Bavaria, was thought of as the future heir of Charles II when it became clear that the King would not have issue. New portraits were portrayed to reflect the new roles played by the first Spanish Habsburg Queen Mother: Mariana of Austria, and she also used them to work for her great-grandson.