His mother, the half-sister of Philip II, King of Spain, had served in that position before him. With other royal heirs, Allesandro was educated as a prince and trained to be an important military leader. Alessandro was sent to the University of Alcal de Henares, now the University of Madrid, along with the king s son. As we look at art history we learn about questions and procedures with which historians are concerned. One of the questions that must often be considered is that of attribution.
Attribution means where, when, why and by whom a work is made.
Questions concerning who painted the Portrait of Alessandro Farnese have arisen and three artists at different times have been credited with being the author of the work. One of the artists whom historians believed for a time had done the portrait was Willem Key, an artist known to have been employed by Alessandro Farnese's mother. Another person thought to have been the artist is Alonso Sanchez-Coello, a portrait painter for Philip II and a student of Anthonis Mor. Their decision was made after carefully comparing this painting to other paintings known to have been done by both Sanchez-Coello and Mor. Side by side comparisons of actual works of art reveal unique aspects of artists styles that cannot always be seen in reproductions.