La embajada extraordinaria del condestable de Navarra ante Urbano VIII en 1627 y Guido Reni /The Constable of Navarre\'s extraordinary embassy to Pope Urban VIII in 1627 and Guido Reni

After the legation sent by Pope Urban VIII to King Philip IV in Madrid in 1626, headedby his favoured nephew Cardinal Francesco Barberini, the Spanish sovereign decided to repaythe gesture of good will by sending to Rome the following year as an extraordinary ambassadordon Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Beaumont (1595-1667), VII constable of Navarre and sonof the fifth Duke of Alba, who was at the time Viceroy of Naples. With this decision, PhilipIV wished to thank Pope Barberini for having sent the aforementioned legation, even thoughits political outcomes had not turned out as expected. Despite the brevity of his mission inRome —for he barely spent twenty days in the City during the spring of 1627—, the constabletook the opportunity to commission a painting with an unknown theme from the famouspaintor Guido Reni (1575-1642) , anticipating with this gesture the interest in this master’sart that several Spanish aristocrats present in Italy showed in the following decade.