Book Series Courts and Courtiers in a Global Context, vol. 2

Painter to the Queen

Michel Sittow, Courtier to Isabella of Castile and the Habsburg Dynasty

Oskar Jacek Rojewski

  • Pages: approx. 280 p.
  • Size:178 x 254 mm
  • Illustrations:33 b/w, 96 col., 3 tables b/w.
  • Language(s):English
  • Publication Year:2025


Pre-order*
  • € 96,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
  • ISBN: 978-2-503-61178-5
  • Hardback
  • Forthcoming (Oct/25)

Forthcoming
  • € 96,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE


Rojewski’s monograph explores Michel Sittow’s work and career at the court of Isabella of Castille and subsequently those of her Habsburg relatives, Philip the Fair, Margaret of Austria, and Charles V.

Subject(s)
BIO

Oskar J. Rojewski studied history and art history at the University of Silesia in Katowice and obtained his doctorate from the University of Valencia and the Universitat Jaume I. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Copenhagen, the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos and the Fondation Périer D’Ieteren. His research is focused on the migration of Flemish Artists to the Mediterranean World, as well as fifteenth and sixteenth-century court culture.

Summary

Michel Sittow was born in Reval c. 1469, today the Estonian capital city of Tallinn. Possibly trained in the workshop of Hans Memling in Bruges, he subsequently moved to work in the Iberian Peninsula, where he first held the position of court painter. This monograph undertakes research on this phase of his career. In the Kingdom of Castille, Michel Sittow was appointed painter to Queen Isabella and became a member of her household with an impressive annual salary. Thanks to the analysis of archival documents and formal and iconographical studies on Sittow’s paintings, it is possible to explain the court painter’s life circumstances and describe the benefits he enjoyed and the difficulties he faced. The Castilian period was crucial for Michel Sittow’s career since over the course of his professional life, he also resided at the courts of Philip the Fair, Margaret of Austria, Christian II of Denmark and Charles V, all relatives of his first royal patron. While serving European monarchs, he transferred Memling’s techniques and visual language beyond the Low Countries and developed his artistic practice and style. The analysis of the various contexts Michel Sittow worked in sheds light on his oeuvre and his possible privileged status as a courtier, which provided opportunities to establish a flourishing and ambitious career in northern and southern Europe.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Illustrations

Foreword by Miguel Ángel Zalama

Acknowledgements

List of Abbreviations

Introduction

Chapter 1. Historiographical perspectives on Sittow’s Iberian period

Master Michiel + Miguel Alemán = Michel Sittow
The Polyptych of Isabella the Catholic
Primary Sources on Michel Sittow in Castile
Conclusion

Chapter 2. Michel Sittow’s training in the workshop of Hans Memling and his departure for the Castilian court

The Iberian clients of Memling’s Workshop
Hans Memling’s influence upon Michel Sittow
The need for a court painter in the Iberian kingdoms
Ambassador Francisco de Rojas and Memling’s workshop
Conclusion

Chapter 3. Tracing Michel Sittow in archival documents from the Castilian court

Agreed court salaries as set out in nóminas (ordinances)
The Libro de asientos (Book of entries)
The Libros de cuentas (Ledgers) kept by Gonzalo de Baeza and Fernand Ramírez de Madrid
Account books for extraordinary expenses
Abecedarios de las deudas (alphabetical registers of debts)
Conclusion

Chapter 4. The painter’s sojourn in Zaragoza (1498)

Sittow, a ‘lodger at an inn’ and his social network
Works possibly made for the Royal Monastery of Santa Engracia
Sittow’s possible influence in the Kingdom of Aragon
Conclusion

Chapter 5. The painter’s oeuvre in Castile

Documented and hypothetical portraits made in Castile
Devotional panels for Isabella of Castile and Margaret of Austria
The Santiago Altarpiece: Sittow and the workshop of Maestro de los Luna
Michel Sittow as copyist
Possible collaborations with Juan de Flandes
Conclusion

Chapter 6. Painter to the House of Habsburg

Archduke Philip’s journeys to the Iberian Peninsula (1501-1503 and 1506)
A portraitist in the service of the imperial family
Return to Castile in 1515 and the Argüello brothers
Resident in Mechelen?
Conclusion

Postscript

Appendices with transcriptions of sources

Bibliography

Index of Names

RELATED PUBLICATIONS
On the steps of the throne View publication