'New epicycle to the great ruby of the day'. The Duke of Lerma, Court dance and the image of power

Abstract

This article proposes to explore the complex interrelationship between Philip III and his Favourite, the Duke of Lerma, through a prism little used by historiography: courtly dance. In the very ambitious festive policy of the Favourite, dance occupies a special role that responds to the monarch’s specific taste for this art and which will have no equivalent later under the Habsburgs. In this context, courtly dance is one of the supports of the allegorical representation of the monarchy that operates in the royal festivals. The article shows how dance affects this system of representation when it is in the hands of the Favourite, that is to say, not only a participant in any of the dances, but also the one who dances alongside the king and, above all, who ends up having enough power to afford masques capable of emulating royal magnificence.