Portrait of Isabella of Portugal (van Eyck)

Portrait of Isabella of Portugal was a betrothal painting[1] by the early Netherlandish artist Jan van Eyck that was one of his earliest works, [2] but is now lost and known only from copies.

Van Eyck spent nine months there, returning successfully to the Netherlands with Isabella as a bride-to-be; the couple married on Christmas Day of 1429.

In this it was intended as eyewitness testimony to the "person of the princess", providing independent verification of her identity when she later travelled to Philip in Burgundy.

This conceit was later and most famously emulated by Petrus Christus's Portrait of a Carthusian's which placed a fly perched on the faux center lower border of his canvas.

Although the original is today known only from a few copies, van Eyck was a renowned and widely copied artist at the time, and its probable influence can be seen in paintings of the queen by Rogier van der Weyden, as well as in a mid-15th century depiction of her by an unknown northern artist; although both works show Isabella at a much older age.

Copy after van Eyck, Isabella of Portugal van Eyck . Private collection, date disputed.
Later diptych showing Isabella of Portugal and Philip the Good in middle age
Isabella of Portugal , attributed to the workshop of Rogier van der Weyden , c 1445/50
Probable portrait of Isabella of Portugal by an unknown northern artist in the mid-15th century . The woman's veil is transparent silk - most likely supplied by Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini