Joan of Austria 1547-1578. Court dress. Renaissance period 16th century.
Joan of Austria was an Archduchess of Austria and by marriage Duchess of Tuscany. Wife of Francesco I de ‘Medici, mother of Maria de’ Medici. Maria de ‘Medici was the second wife of the French King Henry IV in 1601 and was the mother of the French king Louis XIII.
For the time, Johanna received a solid education in philosophy, art, music and in French, Spanish, Italian, Hungarian and Latin.
Joan was described as pale, pious, melancholic, cold and haughty, who, as the daughter and sister of an emperor, despised the Medici and their subjects. Francis I developed no feelings for her and maintained his affair with Bianca Cappello. Immediately after the Grand Duchess died in childbirth in 1578, her husband married his mistress Bianca Cappello two months later.
However, their marriage was not officially announced until 1579. The tomb of Grand Duchess Joan is in the Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze in Florence.
Source: Costumes historiques de ville ou de théatre et travestissements. Author: Achille Devéria and José Domínguez Bécquer. Publisher Paris: Goupil et Vibert 1831. Publisher London: Charles Tilt 1839. Printed by: Lemercier & Cie.
