Tiziano (c.1488-1576)
Isabella d’Este, marchesa di Mantova (Isabella d’Este, Marchioness of Mantua)
c.1534–1536
Oil on canvas, 102.4 × 64.7 × 2.5 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Isabella d’Este, daughter of the Duke of Ferrara and Modena, married Francesco I Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua in 1490. As one of the greatest female patrons of the arts in history, she made the Mantuan court a centre for the most important scholars and artists of the Renaissance. Isabella had herself portrayed by Titian twice in the 1530s: at her then real age of 60 – the picture is only available in a copy by Rubens (inv. no. GG 1534) – and in the present picture it is strongly rejuvenated and idealized, as an elegant appearance that also sets the tone in fashion. (KHM)
See also:
• Isabella d’Este, Marchesa di Mantova (1474-1539)