Eleanor of Toledo and Her Son

The duchess Eleanor is pictured with her second son Giovanni who, along with his mother, died of malaria in 1562. She is shown here wearing a heavily brocaded dress. When Eleanor's body was exhumed in the 19th century, some concluded she wore the same dress as depicted in the portrait, but that assumption turned out to be false. Nonetheless, this painting is considered to be one of the preeminent examples of Mannerist portraiture.