Portrait of an Infanta. Catherine of Aragon (?)

Juan de Flandes, who was court painter to Queen Isabella I of Castile from 1496, bringing refined Flemish technique to the Spanish court, created this work around 1496, now in Madrid's Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. Portrait painting emerged as a major genre during the fifteenth century, reflecting the growing emphasis on individual identity and the secular confidence of the merchant and aristocratic classes. This work belongs to the High Renaissance, when the innovations of the preceding century were synthesized into works of monumental clarity and ideal beauty.

The sitter is rendered with individualized features and careful attention to dress and accessories, employing the luminous flesh tones and controlled lighting that characterize accomplished fifteenth-century portrait painting.