Author: Mario Santos López
Born: 1979
Bio: Mario Santos López (Madrid, Spain) is a historian and Member of the Royal Historical Society (RHS) of the United Kingdom, specializing in genealogical heritage, cultural history, and court portraiture. He holds a BA (Hons) in History and Cultural Heritage from the University of Burgos, complemented by a Diploma in Genealogy, Heraldry, and Nobility from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the University Programme in Art Market and Introduction to Art Collecting.

His early research focused on the portraits of Philip IV’s family as symbolic instruments of dynastic power. Since then, he has developed a methodology that integrates genealogy, social history, and visual analysis, with particular attention to archival materials and primary sources. His formation in the art market has allowed him to approach portraiture not only as an image, but as a relational object shaped by professional, social, and collecting practices.

Following El Linaje y la Lanza: Historia del Linaje Duque, he now presents Corte e Imagen: la Monarquía Hispánica a través del retrato, a study that consolidates his methodological approach and deepens it with a more mature narrative sensibility. The volume explores the Baroque portrait as a point of encounter between memory, identity, and visual culture, situating dynastic representation within broader historical experience.

With a vocation rooted in the intersection of genealogy, history, and visual culture, Mario continues to explore portraiture as a way of narrating the past—building bridges between rigorous scholarship and the human dimension of the image.