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Somewhat larger than life-sized, Maria of Hungary appears wearing a widow's headdress, in a manner very similar to the full-length sculpture Leone Leoni also made of her, which is in the Prado Museum as well. The pedestal is made from the same piece of marble, with various Renaissance decorations, including garlands, sphinxes, inverted pyramids and a winged seraph on the front.
Leoni made various similar busts of the same queen in both marble and bronze for the portrait galleries of several different clients. Such galleries were quite customary in courtly circles during the Renaissance. The present bust was sent by the artist to Brussels along with other works for Mary of Hungary, whose collection was later inherited by his nephew, Charles V, becoming a part of the Spanish Royal Collection.
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