Margaret III, Countess of Flanders

The work belonged to a series of at least eight portraits, depicting the four dukes of the second house of Burgundy and their respective wives. The Museo del Prado keeps four portraits from this series: Margaret III (P006719) Countess of Flanders and wife of Philip the Bold; Margaret of Bavaria (P006721), Duchess of Burgundy and wife of John the Fearless; and the couple Isabella of Bourbon and Charles the Bold (P006718; P006721). Evidently, the third generation of dukes, originally represented by the portraits of Philip the Good and Isabella of Portugal, is missing. Judging by the position of the sitters (the man faces to the right and the women to the left), we can assume that the series was intended to be exhibited in pairs. During the 16th and 17th centuries, galleries displaying portraits of distinguished personalities achieved considerable success and were often found in both noble and religious establishments, thus ensuring the preservation of the of the sitters in memory.

In this portrait, Margaret of Flanders can be recognised by the inscription ‘Margareta Ludovi:Malani’, i. e. Margaret, daughter of Louis of Male. The sitter is wearing a headdress consisting of a fine, light-coloured veil covered with a heavy knotted ornament that resembles a coat of mail. The portrait preserved at the Museo del Prado reproduces the same model as the one in the Recueil de portraits historiques in the Arras library (ms. 0944.2, page 53). It is also based on the model of a historical portrait of Margaret of Flanders in the Museum of Fine Arts of Dijon. More hypothetically, one of the missing portraits would correspond to a male portrait in the Museo Lázaro Galdiano in Madrid, depicting Philip the Good.