Portrait of Cardinal Granvelle

This portrait depicts Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, one of the most powerful political figures of his time. As a trusted advisor to Philip II of Spain, he oversaw diplomatic negotiations on the King’s behalf. Granvelle was a keen art collector and owned, amongst other works, Landscape with the Flight into Egypt by Pieter Bruegel.

Unusually, this portrait is painted on a large sheet of copper rather than wood or canvas. Though valued for enhancing the colours of a painting, copper was expensive and rarely used in works of this size.