Albert VII, Archduke of Austria

Albert VII, Archduke of Austria, painted in 1620 and now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, portrays the Habsburg ruler who governed the Spanish Netherlands jointly with his wife Isabella Clara Eugenia from 1598 until his death in 1621. Albert and Isabella's regency was significant for Antwerp's cultural life: it was under their patronage that Rubens flourished, and the court at Brussels became one of the most artistically ambitious in northern Europe. Jordaens's portrait was made in the final year of Albert's life or shortly before, and it participates in the official visual representation of Habsburg authority in the Low Countries. The Kunsthistorisches Museum, housing the imperial Habsburg collections, is the natural destination for a work portraying an archduke. Jordaens's handling of state portraiture differed from Van Dyck's aristocratic elegance, bringing a more direct, physical quality to the sitter that suits the archduke's reputation as a pragmatic military commander.

State portraits of this kind required adherence to established conventions: formal posture, armour or official dress, neutral background or architectural setting. Jordaens follows these conventions while pressing his characteristic directness into the face. The archduke's features are rendered without the flattering softening that court portraiture often required, suggesting Jordaens worked from a life study or accepted sitter — a frank characterisation that distinguishes his portraiture from Van Dyck's.