[1] It was commissioned that year to commemorate the March 30th annual meeting of the Royal Company of the Philippines (Real Compañía de Filipinas) attended by 51 shareholders and members[2] during a period when Goya was disillusioned by the formerly exiled Ferdinand VII's return to the Spanish crown, which moved away from enlightenment and ended the hopes of Spanish liberals for a more progressive Spain.

However, it had the opposite effect; the Spanish economy and empire lay in ruins after the Peninsular War,[1] the Royal Company of the Philippines was by that time so unprofitable and ineffective as to be irrelevant, and Ferdinand was a king who had learned nothing from the turmoil of the preceding years when he was overthrown.

[4] As with his c. 1800 Charles IV of Spain and His Family, the Spanish king is portrayed in full pomp and finery, albeit through barely concealed gritted teeth.

[2] While the work was painted on commission and intended to hang in the ceremonial hall in which it was set,[2] it highlights in an unflattering manner the centrality and impotent grip of the king.

To art historian Albert Boime, the painting shows a monarch who rules not through respect, but through last resort; absolute power and fear.