From 1507 to 1530, Margaret of Austria ruled the Habsburg Netherlands from her court in Mechelen. During her reign, the city experienced a period of great prosperity and she therefore plays an important role in the narrative of Museum Hof van Busleyden. Until now, however, this famous resident of Mechelen was only represented in the museum by various loans. A portrait of her was still missing from the museum’s collection. This has changed with the recent acquisition of a portrait from the workshop of Bernard van Orley.

The small panel (25×18 cm) comes from the studio of court painter Bernard van Orley, who painted several portraits of her. Margaret is shown kneeling at a table with a landscape in the background. According to the auction catalogue, the painting follows the design of a now lost panel that once constituted the right-hand leaf of a diptych, which paired Margaret of Austria with, on the left, The Virgin and Child: a work housed today at the National Gallery of Canada.

The panel will soon travel from London to Mechelen, where it will added to the recently revamped permanent display At Home in Burgundian Mechelen later this summer. See our recent article by Hannah Thijs for more on the new exhibition at Museum Hof van Busleyden.