ABSTRACT
The sculptures were to form part of a propagandistic iconographic programme in which the king's connection to antiquity was celebrated. Years later, the conde-duque de Olivares brought the most important sculptures in the royal collections to the Buen Retiro and commissioned new sculptures to be added there. The importation of sculptures from Rome was not limited to Velzquez's efforts. In addition to these sculptures, Philip's interaction with sculpture and sculptors is evidenced in the important sculptures in the monastery of the Escorial. Italian princes and local aristocrats seized the opportunity to send important devotional sculptures and other objects as gifts in hopes of winning the king's favor. The inventories confirm that the king added sculptures to the collection and that some of the pieces he acquired were of great interest, such as the four busts of Ethiopians and the sculpture of Rosseto, the favorite dog of the Marqus del Carpio.
