A courtpainter is an artist who paints for the members of a royal or noble family. A royal or noble court, as an instrument of government broader than a court of justice, comprises an extended household centered on a patron whose rule may govern law or be governed by it. ... A painter is a person who paints woodwork, walls, etc. ... A monarchy, (from the Greek monos, one, and archein, to rule) is a form of government that has a monarch as Head of State. ... The Lords and Barons prove their Nobility by hanging their Banners and exposing their Coats-of-arms at the Windows of the Lodge of the Heralds. ...
Despite the disadvantages, Goya's career as a tapestry painter served as an important introduction to the court of Madrid, and his contribution to the tapestry factory is still remembered today, as tapestries after or inspired by Goya's cartoons continue to be produced.
Goya's designs, which had been created under the supervision of Francisoo Bayeu, apparently won the approval of his seniors at court, since from this point on he was allowed to create tapestry cartoons without the direct supervision of another courtpainter.
In April 1790, the courtpainter Mariano Salvador Maella (1739-1819) conveyed to Goya the royal order that he execute another series of cartoons with "comic and rustic" subjects for the king's office in the palace at El Escorial.
Though he continued to paint other subjects, as courtpainter he was chiefly occupiedin portraying members of the royal family and their entourage, and he painted numerous portraits of Philip IV during the course of his life.
The portraits of court dwarfs, painted during the next few years, display the same impartial and discerning eye as those of royal and noble sitters, while the character of the dwarfs' deformities is revealed through their awkward, unconventional poses, their individual expressions, and by the exceptionally free and bold brushwork.
Velázquez's last activity was to accompany the king and court to the French border, in the spring of 1660, to arrange the decoration of the Spanish pavilion for the marriage of the Infanta María Teresa with Louis XIV.
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