Portrait of Isabella of Portugal
Artist: Workshop of Rogier van der Weyden (Netherlandish, 1399/1400-1464)
Date: ca. 1450
Medium: Oil on panel
Collection: Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA, United States
Description
Seated with her hands crossed in her lap, Isabella of Portugal (1397 – 1471), the duchess of Burgundy, conveys the poise and confidence of her noble position. Her sumptuous attire, heavily woven with gold thread, and her jeweled fingers and headdress reflect her aristocratic status.
Born a Portuguese infanta of the House of Aviz, Isabella was the only surviving daughter of King John I of Portugal and his wife Philippa of Lancaster. She served as the regent of the Burgundian Low Countries during the absence of her spouse in 1432 and in 1441–1443. Isabella served as her husband's representative in negotiations with England regarding trade relations in 1439 and those with the rebellious cities of Holland in 1444.
Isabella bore three sons, though only the youngest, Charles (born 10 November 1433), survived infancy to succeed his father as Duke Charles the Bold in 1467; she managed the upbringing and early finances of her son amid the losses of his elder brothers.
A notable patron of the arts and religious institutions, she founded convents and hospitals, including those for the Gray Sisters, and retired to the devotional estate of La Motte-au-Bois in 1457 before returning to courtly duties until Philip's death in 1467