The Archduchess Isabella (1566-1633). Artistic Agency between Madrid and the Southern Netherlands

Twenty-third Art History Seminar of the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage

The Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Austria (Valsaín, 1566 - Brussels, 1633) sovereign (1599-1621) and governess (1621-1633) of the Southern Netherlands, was not only a prominent political figure, but an active artistic and cultural agent throughout her life, commissioning some of the most important works by artists such as Rubens or Callot, promoting religious foundations, architectural and urban projects.

Born to Philip II and his third wife, Isabel de Valois, the Infanta married quite late for the standards of her time, and this caused her to remain in Madrid for half of her lifetime. There, she accompanied her father in the years of construction of the Monastery of El Escorial and advised on the assembly of one of the continent’s most important collections of relics and artworks, and its library and prints. After marrying her cousin Archduke Albert of Austria, she moved to Brussels where the couple would use art as a means of showing the splendour and prosperity of their dominions to the rest of the European courts, with which they always wanted to be compared in spite of being dependent on Madrid. On Albert’s death in 1621 without succession, Isabel lost her sovereign condition and was demoted to governess by her young nephew, the Spanish king Philip IV. This last period of her life saw her realise the most ambitious artistic commissions she ever undertook.

This conference will address for the first time Isabel’s artistic and cultural agency, by analysing works of art and architecture commissioned, promoted and collected by her in different media during her youth in Madrid and her married life and widowhood in Brussels.

Day 2 ‒ Friday 13 September 2024

Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA) (conference room) ‒ Parc du Cinquantenaire 1, 1000 Bruxelles / Jubelpark 1, 1000 Brussel

09:00 Welcome coffee

09:30 Section 2 • A Sovereign of the Southern Netherlands and her Court • Chairman: Joost van der Auwera (Royal Academy of Archaeology and History of Art of Belgium, ARAHAB-KAAKB)

09:30 María Cruz de Carlos Varona (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, UAM) • Isabella and Rubens

09:50 Géraldine Patigny (Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, KIK-IRPA) • Sous le patronage des archiducs : la sculpture à la cour de Bruxelles, des de Nole à du Quesnoy

10:15 Sabine van Sprang (Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium) • L’Infante Isabelle et les tableaux de Theodoor van Loon à Montaigu

10:40 Discussion

10:55 Coffee break

11:15 Section 3 • A Court without Sovereign: governess of the Southern Netherlands • Chairwoman: Natasja Peeters (War Heritage Institute, Brussels)

11:15 Cécile Vincent-Cassy (Cergy-Paris Université) • L’humble tante veuve : l’Infante Isabelle Claire Eugénie, tertiaire franciscaine, par Antoon Van Dyck

11:40 Isabelle Lecocq (Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, KIK-IRPA) • Le mécénat d’Isabella dans l’art du vitrail

12:00 Rocío Martínez López (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) • Following the image of infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia: the influence of the Infanta’s example in the government of the Southern Netherlands (XVII-XVIII centuries)

12:20 Discussion

12:30 Lunch break

Workshops

14:00 Workshop on a manuscript depicting the Stations of the Cross in Ekkergem that belonged to the Infanta Isabella, by Peter Schmidt (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven). Photo-Bibliothèque / Foto-Bibliotheek (1^st floor)

14:30 Workshop on the altarpieces by Frans Pourbus II and Rubens in Aalst (Belgium), by Karen Bonne (Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, KIK-IRPA) & Roger Carrasquer (Universitat Politècnica de València): Two commissions recommended by Albrecht and Isabella? Salle Rubens / Rubenszaal (groundfloor)

15:00 Clossing remarks by María Cruz de Carlos Varona (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)