Peter Paul Rubens und Werkstatt, 1577 Siegen –... Lot 251

Peter Paul Rubens und Werkstatt, 1577 Siegen – 1640 Antwerpen IMAGE OF THE HEREDitary Duke ALBRECHT VII OF AUSTRIA (13 NOV. 1559 VIENNA - 13 JULY 1621 BRUSSELS) Oil on canvas. 126 x 99 cm. The painting is accompanied by an expert opinion by Prof. Justus Müller Hofstede, Bonn, dated 30. X. 2007, as well as by documentary descriptions and provenance notes, with image comparisons, for instance to the portrait also created by Rubens around 1609 (there in front of a red background, then engraved in 1615). The expert opinion dates the work about 1616. The Austrian Archduke, son of Emperor Maximilian II and the Infanta Maria, daughter of Emperor Charles V, here shown in half-length portrait to the right. According to the court fashion of the time in "Habsburg" black dress, with broad, pleated ruff, worked in fine lace. The head held slightly obliquely, the gaze turned towards the observer, over the high forehead brown, short hair, with short pointed chin beard and lip beard turned out to the side. Over the black doublet the gold chain with the Order of the Golden Fleece laid, in the same way the gold buttons as well as the finely embroidered narrow belt stand out. The dark background - together with the black clothing - prominently highlights the face. As was usual in courtly portrait painting, the basic composition and execution of the portrait is in each case the work of the master, who called in his workshop to produce the less demanding details, such as clothing, accessories or background. Albrecht was the son of Emperor Maximilian, educated at the Spanish court of Philip II, and as the fifth son was initially destined for the clerical state. Elevated to the cardinalate by Pope Gregory XIII in 1577, he received the dignity of cardinal deacon of the Church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem in 1580. He never received priestly ordination, however, and left the clergy and married the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, daughter of Philip II, thus becoming heir to the Netherlands and Duke of Burgundy. In 1609, after a defeat, he concluded a 12-year truce with Moritz of Orange, and died in 1621 before the war began again. Albrecht was an important patron of music, literature, in the fine arts especially the painter P. P. Rubens and the Dutch art of the Golden Age. In this sense, the present painting is an important document of the meeting between the patron Albrecht VII and the painter Rubens. Provenance: Collection Baron Axel Wenner - Gren, Castle Haeringen, Stockholm. Frey-Naepflin Collection, Stansstad/Nidwalden Switzerland. Note: A comparable representation in three-quarter portrait to the right, standing at a table (119 x 92 cm., Althorp House / Northhamptonshire, The Earl Spencer)- Counterpart to the portrait d. Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia. Literature: Semblantes, Colcción Granados, there cited: Vlieghe, 1987, Diaz Padron, 1985, Vol. II. pp. 1076 f. J. Müller-Hofstede, A Chronology often the Portraits of Albert and Isabella, o. J. (1290146) (10) Peter Paul Rubens and workshop, 1577 Siegen - 1640 Antwerp POTRAIT OF ALBRECHT VII ARCHDUKE OF AUSTRIA (13 NOV. 1559 VIENNA - 13. JULY 1621 BRUSSELS)Oil on canvas. 126 x 99 cm. Provenance: Baron Axel Wenner Collection - Gren, Castle Haeringen, Stockholm. Frey-Naepflin Collection, Stansstad/ Nidwalden Switzerland. Notes: A comparable representation in three-quarter portrait to the right, standing at a table (119 x 92 cm., Althorp House/ Northhamptonshire, The Earl Spencer)- counterpart to the portrait of Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia. Literature: Semblantes, Colcción Granados, there cited: Vlieghe, 1987, Diaz Padron, 1985, vol. II. pp. 1076 f. J. Müller-Hofstede, A Chronology of the Portraits of Albert and Isabella, n.y..