“My sister is growing up very healthy and beautiful, she loves me”: The Childhood of the Infantas María Teresa and Margarita María at Court1

The Infantas María Teresa (1638–1683) and Margarita María (1651–1673), daughters of Philip IV, are well known for the portraits Velázquez painted of them, although María Teresa’s image is certainly not as famous as that of her younger sister, the adorable little infanta in Las Meninas. However, despite the fact that both sisters (especially Margarita) were portrayed on several occasions by Velázquez, very little has been written on their infancy and education during the period when the paintings were made, in the 1640s and 1650s.