This success of Cano must necessarily have given a considerable impetus to the native production of fans, largely used from the fifteenth century onwards by men as well as women.
In brief, the story of Spanish painting during the whole of the sixteenth century is that of a general migration of Spanish artists to Italy for purposes of study, with a consequent strong Italian influence; and an immigration of Italian artists to Spain, chiefly at the invitation of Charles V. The seventeenth century witnessed the rise and full development of a purely native school of painting, headed by Velasquez and Murillo, who, however, can scarcely be said to have exercised any influence upon the fan, since they were painters pure and simple, i.e. their works were distinguished by the qualities of the painter rather than those of the designer; and, especially in the case of Velasquez, their subjects were unsuitable to the fan.
We do not usually look to the last-named painter for elaboration of detail. The folding-fan in the hands of the Spanish lady by Velasquez, ‘La Femme à l’Éventail,’ at Hertford House, would appear to be of leather, judging from the colour and texture, with applied ornaments at regular intervals. This is probably of the scented variety, peau de senteur, made both in Italy and Spain at this period.[92] We have already referred to the portrait of the little Infanta Margaretha-Theresia by Velasquez in the Vienna Gallery, in which a closed folding-fan is represented.
| Rinaldo in the Garden of Armida, French, Louis XV. stick tortoise-shells finely carved, painted & gilt. | Miss Moss. |
| Capture of the Balearic Islands, 1759, Spanish. | Mr L. C. R. Messel. |
In the Prado at Madrid appear the following portraits:—
| Mengs. | Maria Giuseppa, Archduchess of Austria, a closed folding-fan, jewelled. |
| ” | Maria Carolina, Queen of Naples, a folding-fan. |
| Lopez. | Queen Maria Cristina di Borbone, a closed folding-fan. |
| Goya. | Queen Maria Luisa, a closed folding-fan. |