Portrait of Margaretha van Oostenrijk

Bernard van Orley's portrait of Margaret of Austria at the Musée municipal de Bourg-en-Bresse, painted around 1525, depicts the Habsburg regent of the Netherlands during the later phase of her second regency (1519–1530). Van Orley served as her court painter in Brussels, and this portrait is among the most important documents of her mature appearance as the most powerful woman in European politics — governing the wealthy Flemish territories, managing the dynastic marriage strategies of the Habsburg family, and maintaining one of the most sophisticated courts in the north. The Bourg-en-Bresse museum, associated with the Brou church founded by Margaret's mother-in-law Margaret of Bourbon and completed by Margaret of Austria herself as a memorial to her deceased husband, holds this portrait in a location of personal significance to its subject. Margaret died in 1530 before completing all her ambitions, but her political and cultural legacy was immense. Van Orley's mature portrait style gives her the formal authority her position required while maintaining the Flemish tradition of psychological directness.

The official portrait combines Van Orley's Netherlandish precision with the formal dignity required of court portraiture. The detailed rendering of the regent's costume and jewelry reflects the wealth of the Habsburg court.