Isabella Clara Eugenia (1566-1633)
1625/33
Medium
Engraving in black on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Image/sheet, trimmed within platemark: 59 × 43.2 cm (23 1/4 × 17 1/16 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
223282
Art Historical Context
This striking engraving by Flemish artist Paul Pontius captures Isabella Clara Eugenia, the influential Archduchess of Austria and Governor of the Spanish Netherlands. Created between 1625 and 3, the portrait presents her with regal dignity during her years of active rule. As the daughter of Philip II of Spain, she wielded considerable political power in the early seventeenth century, overseeing a period of relative peace and cultural flourishing in the Low Countries. Pontius, known for his refined reproductive prints after designs by Peter Paul Rubens, demonstrates the technical mastery of e...