Joanna of Austria, daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, was married in December 1552 to John of Portugal (see RCIN 403953). After his death in January 1554 she returned to Spain, where she ruled as regent until 1559. She was the founder of the convent of the Descalzas Reales in Madrid. Joanna wears a formal black velvet gown, probably her bridal clothing from her marriage to John of Portugal in 1552. It is embroidered in gold with intertwined capital 'I' letters, perhaps alluding to her husband's name (Iohannes or Ioan) or her own name (Ioannae). Black clothing was particularly expensive, an intense deep black colour being costly to produce and hard to maintain over time. It was a colour much favoured at the Habsburg court and was commonly worn at weddings in the sixteenth century. The buckles on the sitter's belt include columns, a popular Habsburg device which referred to Charles V's motto, 'Non Plus Ultra'. This is one of a group of existing portraits of the young Joanna of Austria where the heads are all very similar but the poses and costumes are varied. The portrait is similar to portarits by Anthonis Mor and is probably based on an original image by Mor. This portrait was among the pictures acquired in Spain in 1835-7 by Baron Taylor for Louis Philippe I of France. It was displayed in Louis Philippe’s ‘Galerie Espagnole’ at the Louvre.