Ferdinand II and Isabella I

Natasja Kensmil (1973)

Ferdinand II and Isabella I

2017 | oil on linen | 200 × 150 cm

In this double portrait, Ferdinand II and Isabella I, the royal couple from the 15th century, are depicted in an unconventional way. They look rather gray and exhausted, making the work almost ghostly. Natasja Kensmil’s robust painting technique reinforces this impression. It is therefore not the intention of the artist to show this couple only from their best side.

With her work, Kensmil not only reveals the success story of history, but she also wants to show that not all historical stories are so rosy. She is convinced that the past is of great importance to the present.

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