Portrait of the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia

Isabella Clara Eugenia (1566 - 1633) was the daughter of Philip II of Spain. She governed over the Spanish Netherlands, a region which comprised of modern day Belgium and Luxembourg. In this painting she wears the habit of the Franciscan Order, which she joined after her husband died. Van Dyck worked in a number of countries in the 17th century and was court painter to Charles I in England. This painting is a three-quarter-length variant of a full-length Van Dyck portrait in the collection of the Prince of Liechtenstein. Recent research has concluded that the portrait is a good quality work by Van Dyck (with some studio assistance) and is probably to be dated in his second Antwerp period, when he was court artist to Isabella Clara Eugenia and before he left for The Hague in spring 1631.