Master Paintings and Drawings Part II
Master Paintings and Drawings Part II
Flemish School, late 16th century
Portrait of the Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia of Austria (1566 - 1633), three-quarter length, holding a lace handkerchief and resting a hand on the back of a chair
Lot Closed
May 26, 02:23 PM GMT
Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Flemish School, late 16th century
Portrait of the Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia of Austria (1566 - 1633), three-quarter length, holding a lace handkerchief and resting a hand on the back of a chair
oil on panel transferred to canvas
canvas: 47⅝ by 37½ in.; 121 by 95.5 cm
framed: 55¾ by 48¼ in.; 141.6 by 122.6 cm.
With Lawrence Steigrad Fine Arts, New York, by 2005 (as Portrait of a Noblewoman, traditionally called Queen Elizabeth I);
Anyonmous sale, London, Sotheby's, 5 December 2006, lot 343 (as Portrait of Archduchess Clara Eugenia of Austria);
There acquired.
Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia of Austria was the daughter of King Phillip II of Spain and his third wife Elizabeth of Valois. She was created viceroy of the Spanish Netherlands in 1598 and she married Archduke Albert of Austria in 1599. She remained viceroy after Albert's death in 1621 until her own in 1633. During their reign the arts experienced an unprecedented flourishing in the prosperity after the revolt of the Northern Provinces.
The prior identification of the sitter as Queen Elizabeth is likely due to the red hair and regal dress; the queen had clothing from across Europe, and while the Spanish dress and jewels seen here would not have been out of place in the royal wardrobe, they more likely identify the sitter as the Spanish-born Isabella Clara Eugenia.