Portrait of Margherita de' Medici

Margherita de' Medici was about ten when Sustermans painted her, a daughter of the Tuscan grand-ducal house dressed in the heavy embroidered silk of a small adult. Portraits like this had a job beyond the family album. They were sent abroad to arrange marriages. Hers was settled with the Farnese of Parma, and in 1628 she married Odoardo Farnese and became duchess of that city, sealing an alliance between two ruling Italian houses. She would grow into a forceful ruler in her own right, governing Parma more than once while her husband was away at war. Here she is still a Florentine child, holding her pose before the painter with the seriousness the day required.