Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid was a large palace complex designed by the architect Alonso Carbonell and built on the orders of Philip IV of Spain as a secondary residence and place of recreation. It was built in what was then the eastern limits of the city of Madrid. Today, what little remains of its buildings and gardens forms the Retiro Park.
Buen Retiro Palace in 1637 — painting attributed to Jusepe Leonardo
Buen Retiro Palace in 1636–1637 (17th century drawing)
The palace and garden complex of Buen Retiro; fragment of the Madrid plan by Pedro Teixeira (1656)
Casón del Buen Retiro
Philip IV, also called the Planet King, was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered for his patronage of the arts, including such artists as Diego Velázquez, and his rule over Spain during the Thirty Years' War.
Portrait of Philip IV in Fraga, 1644
A c. 1612 portrait of Philip and his older sister, Anne
A 1623 portrait of Philip, displaying the prominent "Habsburg lip"
A c. 1636 portrait of Philip's most prominent favourite and minister, the Count-Duke of Olivares