COUPLE OF BUSTES of the governors of the Spanish... Lot 11

COUPLE OF BUSTES of the governors of the Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands, end of the 17th century Gilt bronze Bust of the Archduke Albert of Habsburg : H. 31 cm (H. 46 cm with the base), W. 26,5 cm, D. 22 cm The figure II engraved on the reverse Bust of the Duke Iñigo Melchor Fernandez de Velasco : H. 29,5 cm (H. 44,5 cm with the base), W. 26 cm, D. 21.5 cm The number 2 engraved on the reverse These two exceptional gilded bronze busts feature the portraits of Albert of Habsburg, Archduke of Austria, governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1595 to 1621, and Iñigo Melchor Fernandez de Velasco, Duke of Frias, governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1668 to 1670. Albert of Habsburg (1559-1621) was the fifth son of Emperor Maximilian II and Mary of Austria (fig. 1). At the age of eleven he was sent to the court of Madrid where his uncle, King Philip II, oversaw his education The sovereign directed Albert to an ecclesiastical career and in 1577 the young man was appointed a cardinal by Pope Gregory XIII, an ecclesiastical dignity which, at the time, did not require entry into Holy Orders. Albert will never be a priest or a bishop. The king considered making Albert the primate of Spain by appointing him to the archbishopric of Toledo but the longevity of the incumbent led the king to temper his ambitions for his nephew. He appointed the latter as Viceroy and Grand Inquisitor of Portugal and its empire. In 1595, his brother Ernest having died, Albert was appointed Governor of the Netherlands, which was then in the midst of a revolt and supported by France and England. The conflict ends with the peace of Vervins and Philip II decides to grant their independence to the Netherlands with at their head Albert who is married to Isabelle- Eugénie, his elder daughter. A clause of the treaty stipulates that if the couple dies without descendants, the Netherlands will become again Spanish possession. Albert thus marries in 1599 his cousin, the infanta Isabella of Spain (1566-1633), daughter of Philip II of Spain, who brings to him in dowry the Netherlands, of which they become the sovereigns. From this marriage three children were born who died at an early age: Philippe, born on October 21, 1605, Albert, born on January 27, 1607 and Anna Mauritia, born around 1608/1609. From 1598 to 1621, the young archduke couple first tried to consolidate by force the Habsburg authority (siege of Ostend) over the Netherlands because the country was torn by a civil war. Once peace was established, the couple, deeply Catholic, reformed the justice system, developed the economy, and promoted public works such as the draining of the marshes on the border of what is now East Flanders and France. They set up their court in Brussels and surrounded themselves with artists such as Rubens or Jan Brueghel. The death of Albert in 1621 put an end to this period of growth and calm; for lack of an heir, the sovereignty over the Netherlands reverted to Spain, the infanta Isabella being appointed as Governor General. In 1648, fifty years after the accession of Albert and Isabella, the Peace of Westphalia marked the end of the civil war that had definitively separated the Southern Netherlands from the Republic of the United Provinces. The second bust, treated with the same virtuosity, represents Iñigo Melchor Fernández de Velasco, Duke of Frías (circa 1635 - 1696), a Spanish nobleman and cousin of John IV of Portugal. He was Governor of the Spanish Low Countries from 1668 to 1670, and Constable of Castile from 1652 to 1696. His portrait, painted by Murillo in 1658, is in the Louvre Museum (fig. 2). There are other busts of the same series of great Spanish figures in the Museum für Angewandte Kunst and Liebieghaus in Frankfurt from the former Auguste de Ridder collection: Archduke Ernst of Austria (1553-1595), Ferdinand of Austria (1609-1641), Luis de Benavides Carrillo de Toledo, Marquis of Caracena (1608-1668), and Francisco de Moura, 3rd Marquis of Castelo Rodrigo (1610-1675). We find the same quality of treatment of the gilded bronze as well as a base quite similar to ours, centered by a striped mask, composed of moldings and resting on clawed feet with acanthus in gilded bronze (fi g. 4, 5, 6 & 7).