Even less conventional than the San Antonio frescoes are Goya's portraits of his royal patrons. From the time of their accession until 1800, Charles IV and Maria Luisa sat to him on many occasions, and many replicas were made of his portraits of them. He painted them in various costumes and poses, ranging from the early decorative portraits in full regalia in the existing tradition of Mengs to the simpler and more natural compositions in the manner of Veldzquez, who directly inspired the large equestrian portraits in the Museo del Prado. But while following traditional compositions for these state portraits, Goya creates an effect of pomposity rather than majesty and the faces of his sitters reveal a penetrating scrutiny of character. Nowhere is this more striking than in the portrait of Charles IV and his Family. Though Goya doubtless had in mind Veldzquez's unique royal portrait, Las Meninas, which he had copied in an engraving years before. Goya, like Veldzquez, has put himself in the picture at his easel, but his royal assembly lacks any semblance of courtly dignity and elegance. Moreover, despite the official character of the painting and his official position, he has accentuated the ugliness and the vulgarity of the principal figures so vividly as to produce an effect almost of caricature. Theophile Gautier, writing of this picture, remarks that the King 'looks like a grocer who has just won the lottery prize, with his family around him'.