Leopold Wilhelm, geboren 1614, Bischof v. Passau u. Straßburg 1625, v. Halberstadt 1628, v. Olmütz 1637, v. Breslau 1655, Hoch- und Deutschmeister 1642, Statthalter d. Niederlande 1646-56, gestorben 1

This oil on canvas portrait at the Kunsthistorisches Museum depicts Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, whose extraordinarily titled biography is embedded in the painting's full title: bishop of multiple sees, Teutonic Order Grand Master, and crucially Governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1646 to 1656. Leopold Wilhelm was one of the most important political and artistic patrons in mid-seventeenth-century Antwerp — his tenure as Governor coincided precisely with Coques's mature career, and the Archduke assembled one of the era's greatest painting collections, much of which formed the nucleus of what became the Kunsthistorisches Museum. A portrait commission from Leopold Wilhelm represented the pinnacle of Antwerp patronage, placing Coques in direct contact with the Habsburg court's visual culture. The work survives in the very collection whose foundations Leopold Wilhelm laid.

A portrait of Habsburg royalty demanded Coques's most ceremonial treatment: a larger format than his usual cabinet scale, careful attention to the insignia of rank and ecclesiastical office, and a restrained gravity in the colour scheme appropriate to the sitter's multiple dignities. Oil on canvas supports the controlled surface quality required for such an official commission.