Portrait of Don Juan de Austria (1547–1578), bust-length, wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece,
inscribed lower right: Don Ian d’austria,
oil on panel, 68 x 51.5 cm, framed

We are grateful to Gloria Martínez Leiva for her help in cataloguing the present painting.

Martínez Leiva dates the present painting to the late sixteenth century and it was probably commissioned when Juan was appointed Governor General of the Netherlands.

Juan de Austria was born in 1547 in Regensburg. He was the illegitimate son of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V and Barbara Blomberg of Regensburg. Removed from his mother, a burgher’s daughter, at an early age he was brought up in concealment in Spain. After the death of Charles V, Philip II of Spain recognised him as his half-brother, provided him with a substantial household, and gave him the title of Don Juan de Austria (1559).

Although it was hoped that he would enter the church, the handsome and spirited Don Juan expressed a desire to embark on a military career, and Philip acceded to his wishes. In the summer of 1568, Don Juan had his first brief experience in warfare, fighting Moorish pirates in the Mediterranean and, in 1586, was appointed Commander in Chief of Spanish forces attempting to subdue the rebellious Moriscos, or Christians of Moorish ancestry, in Granada. In 1571, Philip appointed him to head the naval forces of the Holy League of Spain, Venice, and the Pope against the Ottoman Turks in the eastern Mediterranean. By the prestige of his royal name and his enthusiasm, Don Juan was able to impose a temporary unity of purpose on the quarreling admirals of the league and to form the several fleets into an effective fighting unit. In the Battle of Lepanto (7 October 1571) the allies virtually annihilated the Turkish forces, thereby destroying the myth of Turkish invincibility. The victory of Lepanto also encouraged Don Juan’s personal ambitions for further campaigns against the Turks, but Philip would only allow him to conquer Tunis (1573).

For several years Don Juan continued to chafe under the restraints his prudent brother imposed upon him, but in 1576 he was appointed Governor General of the Netherlands, which was then in open revolt against Spanish authority. Don Juan was at first reluctant to accept this difficult post and accepted it only on condition that he would be allowed to invade England and marry Mary, Queen of Scots, who was at that time in captivity in England. In the Netherlands he signed the Perpetual Edict with the rebels (February 1577) by which, in exchange for rebel recognition of Don Juan as Governor and the restoration of the Roman Catholic religion, Spanish troops were to be removed. The provinces of Holland and Zeeland did not accept the return to Catholicism and refused to recognise Don Juan’s authority. Don Juan then reassumed the role of a soldier and resumed the war by capturing Namur.