(Antwerp 1569/70–1622 Paris) Portrait of Isabella Clara Eugenia, wife of Archduke Albrecht VII and governor of the Habsburg Netherlands, today‘s Belgium, oil on canvas, 67 x 61 cm, framed,

Provenance: French private collection.

The Spanish Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia (1566-1633) was the first child of King Philip II and his third wife, Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry II of France. She was introduced into the business of government by her father and evolved into a woman that was both beautiful and intelligent. She married Archduke Albrecht of Austria, who, as Albrecht VII, was appointed governor-general of the Habsburg Netherlands (today‘s Belgium). In 1601, she became the country‘s joint sovereign, ruling side by side with her husband, and when he died in 1631, she continued to do so by herself. The present painting is a juvenile portrait of the princess that seems to date from the early 1590s, when Frans Pourbus was active as a court painter in Brussels. The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna preserves a double portrait of the two sovereigns by Rubens showing Isabella as a mature woman.

Provenance: French private collection. The Spanish Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia (1566-1633) was the first child of King Philip II and his third wife, Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry II of France. She was introduced into the business of government by he