Archduchess Johanna
by ARCIMBOLDO, Giuseppe, Oil on linden wood, 34 x 26 cm
This painting belongs to a series of busts of Ferdinand I’s daughters (and of Anna, the daughter of Maximilian II) which includes a total of seven paintings of varying formats and styles. All seven paintings are attributed to Arcimboldo.
The concordance of the individually represented archduchesses is only given tentatively. It seems that the painter may have worked from drawings, possibly from a different hand.
Through a comparison to other portraits, this painting can be safely identified as depicting Archduchess Johanna, the youngest and last daughter of Ferdinand I and Anna of Hungary. In 1565 Johanna was wed to Francesco de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, bearing him many daughters, among them Maria, who would later marry King Henry IV of France.