Peter Paul Rubens and Workshop (Flemish, 1577–1640)
Portrait of Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia, Spanish Regent of the Low Countries, as a Nun, 1625
Oil on canvas
Norton Simon Art Foundation, Gift of Mr. Norton Simon, M.1966.10.10.P 

As the Spanish governor of the Netherlands, Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia (1566–1633) controlled her own public image. In this portrait, Peter Paul Rubens paints Isabella in the modest habit of the Poor Clares, a religious order that she joined after the death of her husband, Albert of Austria (1559–1621). This was a common transition for aristocratic widows, though Isabella’s decision was in part a political move that allowed her to craft her identity as a spiritual leader. The portrait at the Norton Simon Museum is a copy of the lost original, also by Rubens, and it was likely sent as a diplomatic gift to a foreign court, asserting the persistence of Isabella’s power after her husband’s death. In fact, several painted and engraved versions of the portrait were circulated, spreading the image of Isabella as a pious Catholic sovereign whose authority was granted by the Church—a pointed statement amid ongoing territorial conflicts between Protestants and Catholics in the region.