This bold portrait by spanish court painter alonso sanchez coello portrays archduke ernest of austria in the formal style characteristic of spanish portraiture of the sixteenth century. Coello was one of the foremost portraitists of the later sixteenth century and a pioneer of the spanish tradition of portraiture. A follower of titian, he combined the golden tones and use of light on the canvas found in venetian painting, with a precision of representation learned in the studio of his flemish master, anthonis mor (rcin 405799). Mor was court painter to phillip ii and on his return to the netherlands in 1561, coello took his former master's place. Coello remained at the spanish court in madrid until his death in 1588 and continued to enrich the style inherited from both titian and mor, bringing a distinctive use of colour, sharpness of execution and heightened realism to spanish court portraiture. This painting depicts fifteen year old archduke ernest as the mirror image of his brother prince rudolf, the future holy roman emperor. The pair of portraits were probably commissioned by their uncle, phillip ii of spain with whom they were living in madrid. The direct gaze and dignified, formal pose of the sitter are characteristic of spanish court portraiture, portraying the teenage prince as a confident young man, complete with hereditary 'habsburg chin'. Object Type: painting. Genre: portrait. Date: 1568. Dimensions: height: 99 cm (38.9 in); width: 81 cm (31.8 in). Medium: oil on canvas. Depicted People: Archduke Ernest of Austria. Collection: Royal Collection. Ernst von Österreich von Alonso Sánchez Coello
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