page_title: Portrait of Isabella of Portugal (van Eyck)
section_title: Commission
hierarchical_section_title: Portrait of Isabella of Portugal (van Eyck) / Commission
context_page_description: Portrait of Isabella of Portugal was a betrothal painting by the early flemisch artist Jan van Eyck, one of his earliest works and now lost, known only from copies. It dates to his 1428-29 visit to Portugal on behalf of Philip the Good, when he was sent as part of an embassy to evaluate the then 30-year-old Isabella's suitability as a bride for Philip.
context_section_description: Van Eyck was tasked by Philip the Good with bringing back two (mostly likely a pair were painted to increase the probability that one would make it back to the Netherlands) faithful representations of her likeness for the duke to evaluate.
  Because Portugal was ridden with plague, their court was itinerant and the Dutch party met them at the out of way castle of Aviz. Van Eyck spent nine months there, returning successfully to the Netherlands with Isabella as a bride to be; the couple married on Christmas Day of 1429.
  The portrait was executed around the time the preliminary marriage agreement was drawn up, to be sent concurrently to Philip, with the document of agreement. In this it was intended as eyewitness testimony to the "person of the princess", providing independent verification of her identity when she would later travelled to Philip in Burgundy.
caption: Later diptych showing Isabella of Portugal and Philip the Good in middle age
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