Intriguing sleeper

The auction is finished by now, but I noticed it while it was ongoing. With an estimate of $370, it was at a bid of $3,400 with 16 different bidders after two weeks of online bidding and with still some 5 hours to go. At the Swedish auction house Metropol, it was described as "Unknown artist, portrait, damaged, 16th or 17th century, 26 by 19 cm". Even as such, it was interesting (and a low estimate), but I guess some people recognised either the artist or the sitter.

She reminds me a bit of the portrait of Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of France, by François Clouet. Obviously clearly inferior in execution, otherwise it wouldn't have been estimated so low, but the attitude, the clothing, and the face have a lot in common. Considering that that painting is from ca. 1571, and assuming that the one for sale is depicting a contemporary (which seems logical), it would narrow down the age of the painting to ca. 1570-1600.

Looking more in detail to the head of the portrait, the jewellery makes it clear that this was a rich and important person. I tried to compare her with some of the most important woman in Sweden in that period, but she looks better than e.g. Gunilla Bielke, Katarina Jagellonica or Kristina of Holstein. The one that comes closest is probably Anna of Austria, Queen Consort of Sweden.

But the similarities in make-up and position make them look more similar than they are, and assuming that both pictures are somewhat life-like, I don't think they are the same person (e.g. the forehead and the nose are different). I haven't found any other pictures of people with the same headdress, so I guess it will remain a mystery to me...

UPDATE 27 January 2015: The auction ended a few hours later, with two extra bidders, at 96,000 SEK or some 10,300 Euro! This was nothing less than 32 times the highest estimate.