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Image of the genealogical tree of the Kings of Aragon, Genealogy of Dom Fernando of Portugal, Simon Bening, Bruges, 1530-1534, 559 x 394 mm, Add. MS 12531, f. 4
Such was Bening’s fame across Europe that in 1530 the brother of the King of Portugal commissioned him to undertake the illumination of an oversize genealogy of his royal house. The Portuguese court artist António de Holanda was entrusted with only the drawings on which Bening was to base his illuminations. Sadly the project was broken off at an early stage: Bening, who had set aside two years to complete his part, became impatient at the slow rate of delivery of the drawings from Portugal and completed the illumination of only five leaves. Intended to serve as a chronicle of the kings of Portugal since the time of Noah, the family trees on these leaves, with their twisting trunks, demonstrate the connections between the Portuguese crown and the royal families of Europe.
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