A portrait of a 16th century Queen of Spain comes up at auction in Waterford on April 7. Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain (1549-1580) is at R.J. Keighery’s sale in Waterford. The Queen is depicted in a heavily embroidered dress with lace collar. The portrait is attributed to the Portuguese artist Alonso Sanchez Coello (1531-1588), a pioneer of Spanish portrait painting, and is estimated at 10,000-15,000.
It was purchased at the estate sale at Mount Loftus, Powerscourt, Co. Kilkenny in 1965. It is lot number 903 in a sale of 959 lots which includes antique furniture, jewellery and collectibles.
UPDATE: The work was withdrawn at 7,000 and remained unsold.