On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P00415
- Author
- Titian [Vecellio di Gregorio Tiziano] (Italian)
- Title
- Empress Isabel of Portugal
- Chronology
- 1548
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 117 cm x 98 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- Yes
- Entrance
- COLECCION REAL
- Procedence
- Royal Collection
This posthumous portrait of Empress
Isabel (1503-1539), the wife of
Carlos V (1500-1558), was painted
by Titian in Augsburg. It was
commissioned by the Emperor when
Isabel died and is based on an
earlier portrait —by an unknown
painter— that was destroyed by a
fire at the El Pardo Palace in
1604.
The composition consists of a
half-length image of the Empress in
front of an open window offering a
view of landscape. It is a model
that Titian had used before and is
derived from types by
Raphael.
Isabel's coldness, especially her
gaze, may well be the result of an
effort to show the Empress with the
dignity her condition implies. It
may also stem from an idealization
of her appearance due to the lack
of a living model.
This work appears in the
inventories of Madrid's Alcázar
Palace from 1636, 1666, 1686 and
1700. It entered the Prado Museum
collection in 1821.
Location on the map
