The portrait depicts Eleanor of Guyenne, who was one of the richest and most powerful women in Europe during the High Middle Ages. As the wife of King Louis VII, she was Queen of France from 1137 to 1152; as the wife of King Henry II, she was Queen of England from 1154 to 1189; and from 1137 until her death in 1204, she was Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right. As Queen of France, Eleanor took part in the unsuccessful Second Crusade, which was undertaken to protect the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Whilst contemporary sources praise Eleanor’s beauty, her political achievements were often overlooked. During her stay in what was then the capital of the Byzantine Empire, she succeeded in concluding an important trade agreement with Constantinople.