Woman at Her Toilette

Artist School of Fontainebleau (French, about 1560)

Date1550–1570

Mediumoil on panel

Dimensionspanel: 111.8 x 87.6 cm (44 x 34 1/2 in.)
framed: 136.2 × 108.3 × 9.2 cm (53 5/8 × 42 5/8 × 3 5/8 in.)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Terms

Object number1932.23

Label TextThis painting is likely a portrait of a lady in the court of Henry II of France, modeled after a lost painting by François Clouet, the principal court painter. Several variations of this painting exist, supporting the theory that a famous prototype must have been their common inspiration. Boudoir paintings that depicted the sitter in such intimate and revealing circumstances were developed at the court of Fontainebleau and are nearly unique to that school.ProvenanceDe Vigny, architect of Louis XV, sold 1773; Duke of Buckingham-Chandoes, sold 1848 (to Ryman); in sale at Stowe Park, 1921 (to Shaw); Beenham Court, near Newbury, sold in 1928 (to Justice); purchased by the museum from R. R. Tatlock and Raymond Henniker-Heaton, London, 1932.

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On view

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