Detail of “Duel Between Francis I and the Marquis Civita Santangelo,” designed by Bernard van Orley and woven in Brussels in the 1500s. (Randy Dodson/Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco ...

By Jason Farago BOURG-EN-BRESSE, France — Almost 500 years ago, in 1518 or 1519, the Flemish artist Bernard van Orley sat down to paint a portrait of Margaret of Austria, one of the most ...