Bold, strategic, and steady, Isabella of Castile navigated an unlikely rise to the throne and ushered in a golden age for Spain. Looking Like a Queen“La Virgen de la Mosca,” painted in the ...

Queen Isabella of Spain is well-known for her encouragement of Christopher Columbus’ expeditions to the New World, as well as for uniting her fractured country, transforming Spain into a world ...

where her long journeys across Spain’s vast plains and mountains made her the model for the most important player in the game —the queen. It can be argued that Isabella, who became known as ...