At the court of Spain thumb|right|Carlo Broschi Farinelli in Spanish court dress wearing the Order of Calatrava, by Jacopo Amigoni c. 1752 Apparently intending to make only a brief visit to the Continent, Farinelli stopped at Paris on his way to Madrid, singing on 9 July at Versailles to King Louis XV, who gave him his portrait set in diamonds, and 500 louis d'or. On 15 July he left for Spain, arriving about a month later. Elisabeth Farnese, the Queen, had come to believe that Farinelli's voice might be able to cure the severe depression of her husband, King Philip V (some contemporary physicians, such as the Queen's doctor Giuseppe Cervi, believed in the efficacy of music therapy). By royal decree Farinelli was named chamber musician to the king and queen on 28 August 1737; two days later the title , meaning something like family servant or perhaps majordomo, to the king was added. The decree provided Farinelli with an enormous salary, a coach with the necessary mules and residence wherever the king happened to be.
At the court of Spain thumb|right|Carlo Broschi Farinelli in Spanish court dress wearing the Order of Calatrava, by Jacopo Amigoni c. 1752 Apparently intending to make only a brief visit to the Continent, Farinelli stopped at Paris on his way to Madrid, singing on 9 July at Versailles to King Louis XV, who gave him his portrait set in diamonds, and 500 louis d'or. On 15 July he left for Spain, arriving about a month later Elisabeth Farnese, the Queen, had come to believe that Farinelli's voice might be able to cure the severe depression of her husband, King Philip V (some contemporary physicians, such as the Queen's doctor Giuseppe Cervi, believed in the efficacy of music therapy). By royal decree Farinelli was named chamber musician to the king and queen on 28 August 1737; two days later the title , meaning something like family servant or perhaps majordomo, to the king was added. The decree provided Farinelli with an enormous salary, a coach with the necessary mules and residence wherever the king happened to be.