Reception of the Dutch ambassador Hieronymus van Beverningk by the Spanish queen-regent Maria-Anna of Austria, 2 March 1671, by Caspar Netscher. The expansionist policies of France's King Louis XIV forced the Republic to look for allies. In 1670 a pact was agreed with Spain. Maria Anna of Austria, the Spanish queen regent, received the Dutch diplomat Hieronymus van Beverningk in secret on 2 March 1671 in Madrid. The queen regent is dressed as an abbess (head of a convent). Standing behind the table is one of her advisors. The woman on the right in the foreground is Joanne le Gibbon, wife of Van Beverningk.