King Felipe VI & Queen Letizia of Spain (photo courtesy of Pool Moncloa and Borja Puig de la Bellacasa)
Renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz has recently unveiled her latest project: a double portrait of the king and queen of Spain.
For their twentieth anniversary, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia posed for photographer Annie Lebovitz in a stunning display of glamour and wealth. On Monday, November 25th, the Bank of Spain hosted an exhibition at its central location in Madrid, where they unveiled the portraits for the first time. Annie Leibovitz got her start as a photographer for Rolling Stone, but this is not the first time Leibovitz has dealt with royalty. On two occasions, she took photos of Queen Elizabeth, once in 2007 and the other in 2016. Her style of portrait photography is rather well-suited for these sorts of subjects, given her use of staging and lighting to create a dramatic atmosphere. Leibovitz does not show the royal couple together in a single image, but rather each in their own portrait. The king stands in the Royal Palace’s Gasparini Hall in cool light, wearing his military uniform with several sashes and medals. Meanwhile, the queen wears a strapless black Balenciaga dress standing in a more warmly-lit area. She also has a red satin shawl, a diamond necklace, and diamond drop earrings. While they are separate photographic portraits, a chair partially appearing in both photos shows that the pair are standing at opposite sides of what could have been a single, wide shot. Art historian Yolanda Romero remarked that the photos are “paradoxically very pictorial”. This refers to not just their subjects but also their being printed on canvas rather than paper, making them seem more like paintings than just photos.
While the Leibovitz portraits are beautifully arranged and executed, it is questionable whether such a display is wise for the royal family. Of all the monarchies remaining in Europe today, Spain is often the most at risk. While King Felipe has taken steps to improve the monarchy’s public image, the royal family has not yet fully recovered from the serious reputational blows they suffered due to a series of scandals and missteps between 2008 and 2012. Many have praised the Leibovitz portraits as capturing the grandeur of the crown, following in the footsteps of other famous Spanish royal portraitists like Francisco de Goya and Diego Velázquez. It shows the king and queen as strong figures on their own but also as a team. But of course, while the king poses in his military regalia against a palatial backdrop, it is not as opulent as I suppose it could have been.
Monarchies today must perform a balancing act in order to survive. They can easily be dismantled if they are seen as out of touch. However, if the royals seem far too ordinary and approachable, nothing makes them special, and they, therefore, have no reason to remain part of the state infrastructure. The monarchy’s critics are bound to denounce the portraits as an unnecessary expenditure (Leibovitz was paid €137K for the job) and a display of wealth and power at a time when Spain is not in the best shape. Nearly 20% of Spain’s population lives in or at risk of poverty, the country suffers from almost 12% unemployment, and most recently, a series of floods in Valencia has resulted in several hundred dead and prompted a government response, including €2.4 billion in aid. But at the same time, the monarchy represents tradition and stability, which many people look for in times of crisis. We shall see how the Spanish people respond to the Leibovitz portraits in due time.