(Antwerp 1569–1622 Paris)
Portrait of Archduchess Anna of Tyrol (1585–1618), later Holy Roman Empress,
oil on canvas, 71 x 56 cm, framed

Provenance:
with Kunstkammer Georg Laue, Munich;
where acquired by the present owner

Literature:
B. Ducos, Frans Pourbus le Jeune 1569–1622, Dijon 2011, pp. 75–76, fig. 35 (as ‘Anonyme, Portrait présumé de l’archiduchesse Anna de Habsbourg’);
G. Laue, Die Kunstkammer. Kunstkammer Edition, vol. 1, Munich 2016, pp. 9, 50–51, 116, cat. no. 25, fig. 33 (as Attributed to Frans Pourbus II, Flemish circa 1600)

The sitter of the present portrait is the young Archduchess Anna of Tyrol (1585–1618), probably around the age of 15. She wears a rich dark green brocade robe with broad stripes of gold embroidery, with a voluminous ruff and hair in accordance with the fashion that spread at European courts towards the end of the sixteenth century. Corresponding to the height of the ruff, the hair is highly toupéed and coiffed into a pyramid-shaped structure supported by a wire frame. The hair pyramid is vertically divided by falling curls and framed by a diadem of pearls and precious stones. The hairpin near the left ear in the shape of a small hand with a flaming heart, is of particular refinement and could possibly be related to a future engagement. Anna was the youngest daughter of Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol, the founder of the Kunstkammer at Ambras Castle, and his second wife Anna Caterina Gonzaga. She grew up at her father’s court in Tyrol and in 1611 married her cousin, Archduke Matthias, who became Holy Roman Emperor and with whom she was crowned Holy Roman Empress in 1612. However, the marriage remained childless, and Anna died in 1618, Matthias died only three months later.

The present portrait is stylistically close to the portraits of Frans Pourbus II with its pronounced realism, and it can be assumed that it was painted by a portraitist who worked for Ferdinand II around the end of the 16th century. Frans Pourbus II was one of the most popular portrait painters of the European courts at the beginning of the seventeenth century. He travelled to Mantua in 1600 to the court of Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga, Anna’s maternal uncle. However, this did not preclude him from working for other important patrons. In 1603 he went to Innsbruck, and in 1604 to Graz to paint portraits of potential future brides for Emperor Rudolf II. These included the portraits of Anna’s cousins, the Archduchesses Eleonore, Maria Magdalena and Konstanze (Innsbruck, Ambras Castle, on loan from the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, inv. nos. 3070, 3385 and 3306). Anna’s portrait, which today exists only as a workshop replica (inv. no. 9383), was commissioned by Rudolf II from Pourbus. He competed with Hans von Aachen, who painted another portrait of the Archduchess, which is now also in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (inv. no. 4410).

The present work is an example of the art of representation around 1600 and impressively demonstrates the importance of portraiture at European courts and in particular at the courts of the Habsburgs.