Archduke Albrecht And Archduchess Isabella In The Coudenberg Gardens, 17th

Archduke Albrecht and Archduchess Isabelle, in the gardens of Coudenberg (former Royal Palace of Brussels), oil on wood panel (with traces of several collection stamps), dimensions 36 cm x 26 cm, with the frame 51 cm x 41 cm, circle of Jan Brueghel II, Holland, early 17th century. Albert and Isabelle form the Hasbourg and Spain couple, brought to govern the southern Netherlands and Franche-Comté (circle of Burgundy, then linked to the Crown of Spain) from 1598 to 1621. Married on May 6, 1598, Archduke Albert of Austria (1559-1621), younger son of Emperor Maximilian II, and his cousin the Infanta Isabella-Claire-Eugénie of Austria (1566-1633), daughter of King Philip II of Spain and maternal granddaughter of the Queen of France Catherine de Medici, notably reigned over the southern part of the former Spanish or Burgundian Netherlands from 1598 to 1621, a period of peace and prosperity for the country. They reign jointly and the two names are almost always cited together, as the reigning and ruling couple, by historians of this period. In this charming rural scene we can admire on one side the noble company moving away from the castle in an entertaining walk and on the other side, with a separation by two trees, country scenes full of picturesque details, we even see completely to the right a horse do a mating.