Isabella d’Este, Marchioness of Mantua

Isabella d‘Este, daughter of the Duke of Ferrara and Modena, married Franceso I Gonzaga, Margrave of Mantua in 1490. As one of the greatest female art patrons in history, she transformed the Mantuan court into a centre of the most eminent Renaissance scholars and artists. Isabella allowed Titian to paint her portrait twice in the 1530’s: at the real age of 60 – the picture is only preserved in a Rubens copy (Inv.-Nr. GG 1534) – and in the picture shown here, in which the subject is idealised as a much younger, elegant figure, and a fashion trend-setter.