The subject is Empress Isabella of Portugal (1503–1539), the beloved wife of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, mother of Philip II of Spain and daughter of Manuel I of Portugal. Titian painted her after her death, using a mediocre painting for reference.[2] For the rest of his life, Charles took the painting with him on all his travels.
The portrait follows a classic scheme already used by Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci, in which the model sits next to a window opening on a landscape. The landscape gives depth to the composition, and its greenish and bluish tones provide a contrast to the interior scene dominated by warm colors. The figure shows some stiffness, possibly related to the concept of majesty as used in imperial iconography.
She wears a rich red dress and gold brocade and trimmed with rhinestones. It is decorated also with flashy jewelry: a necklace of pearls with a clasp at the chest with gems hanging from another teardrop pearl, a ring on her right hand, and a jewel-topped headdress. Her rigid hairstyle, very fashionable at the time, is made up with braids. The Empress holds an open book in her left hand, perhaps a missal or prayer book, and looks at a distant point with a distant expression.[3]
^L. Cirlot, Museo del Prado II, Museos del Mundo, vol. 7, Espasa, 2007, p. 157 (Spanish)
^Tiziano Vecellio, Charles Hope, Jennifer Fletcher, Jill Dunkerton, Miguel Falomir Faus, Nicholas Penny, Caroline Campbell, Amanda Bradley, and David Jaffe. 2003. Titian: [National Gallery, London 19 February – 18 May 2003]. London: National Gallery. p. 36. ISBN1857099044.
^Fondazione Centro studi Tiziano e Cadore, Studi tizianeschi: annuario della Fondazione Centro studi Tiziano e Cadore, Edizione 5, Silvana Editoriale, 2007 (Italian)
