Emperor Charles V and Empress Isabella of Portugal

It was purchased in London on November 18, 1935 from Mr. Frank Sabin.

Copy made by Rubens during one of his two trips to Spain, perhaps the second (1628-1629). The original Titian, according to the palatine inventories of the 16th and 17th centuries, was in the Alcázar of Madrid and in the Palacio del Pardo, also decorating the Emperor's cell in the monastery of Yuste. It burned down in the Alcázar fire of 1734. The painting painted by Rubens cannot be considered a literal copy, but a free version since the background evokes a landscape that could not be contemplated by the Venetian artist. Instead, the details of the clothing reflect fidelity to the original. Sánchez Cantón observed that the Empress wears the same dress that appears in a first portrait made by El Cadorino and that, lost, can be known through a tablet owned by the Marquis of Santo Domingo and an Iode engraving. The couple must have been painted before the superb portrait of the Empress preserved in the Prado Museum. Tiziano refers to this canvas in a letter written to Granvela in 1548, collected by Beroqui; he refers to several canvases that he sent to Carlos V and among them he cites “Quello che sono sua Maesta et la Imperatrice”. The version catalogued here is cited with number 51 in the inventory of the works that existed in Rubens's workshop at his death, in these terms: “le pourtrait du dit Empereur avec sa femme sur la meme toile”. Vos has published a drawing of Rubens showing, on the right shoulder of the portrait of Federico Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, the head of the Emperor.