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| Image | Sale date | Auction house | Location | Sale name | Lot No. | Estimate | Price Sold | Condition | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mar 27, 2019 | Artcurial | Paris | Old Master & XIXth Century Art | 298 | $****** - ****** | Portrait of a lady of the court of Francis I |
paintings
16 x 12 cm (6.3 x 4.72 in)
Oil on oak panel
Adolph Thiem Collection, Berlin, according to a label on the back;
Given by him in 1899 to the art historian Gustavo Frizzoni, according to a label on the back;
Remained in his descent;
Anonymous sale; London, Christie's, December 2, 2008, No. 21;
Galerie De Jonckheere, Paris;
Acquired from it by the current owner;
Private collection, Rhône-Alpes
Oil on oak panel, oval probably in the nineteenth century
Portrait of a lady from the court of Francis I, oil on oak panel, by Corneille de Lyon
h: 16 w: 12 cm
Although allegorical and mythological portraits are numerous in the Renaissance and the seventeenth century, representations of real people as holy men or women are rare and even specifically prohibited by the Council of Trent. In general, either they are actually fantasy figures and not portraits, or the attributes of a saint are later modifications. Thus, the portrait of a lady (probably Catherine Sforza) painted by Sandro Botticelli around 1475 was taken up in the following century so as to transform it into the image of St. Catherine (Altenburg, Lindenau-Museum). In the same way, the presumed portrait of Catherine of Aragon by Michel Sittow was later endowed with a halo (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum). The panel we are presenting is the only known example of such a change concerning a French work. At a date yet to be determined, a painter intervened to add a thin halo around the head of the young woman and metamorphose the little dog she holds in her arms in lamb, traditional attribute of Saint Agnes. The painting was perhaps then considered as representing Agnes Sorel, mistress of Charles VII.
This is the name of Queen Claude of France, wife of Francis I, who wears the autograph version of our blue background portrait preserved in Moscow and whose strong clipping has done away with the hands and the animal. It is however intact in the third preserved version, like ours with a green background, today in private hands. It is a small King Charles, similar to that held by Marguerite d'Angouleme, Queen of Navarre, in his portrait designed by François Clouet around 1540 (Chantilly, inv. MN 44).
According to the dress of the lady, she also posed for Corneille of Lyon around 1540, at the time when the artist, strong of his title of painter of the Dauphin (future Henry II), had to paint the gentlemen and the ladies of the court, princes of the blood and members of the royal family. This makes it impossible to see Queen Claude, who died in 1524. The name of the young woman remains to be discovered, but her rich and original dress and attitude indicate a person of high birth and occupying the court envied position. One of the few female models to fix the viewer, she is also one of the few to have her hands visible and the only one to hold a small dog. The lady is dressed in a blue silk dress whose shimmer is returned thanks to the large reserves which allow to perceive the chalky preparation. The square neckline is lined with stripes that mix gold threads, blue accents, small pearls and black pompoms. The light hair of the young woman is tight in a silk cap characteristic of French fashion, with a veil of black velvet. Delicate cottoires (necklaces) complete the toilet.
If the Moscow version seems slightly more spontaneous than the other two, the perfectly preserved resemblance, the accuracy of the expression, the softness and the melting of the touch, the eager execution of the details without the decorative minutia that distinguishes the copies of workshop, the attention paid to the irises allow to attribute to Corneille himself the realization of our panel. Several portraits that the artist drew at that time of the most prominent people at the court exist in fact in several copies, Corneille must be able to meet many orders. The virtuoso touch, the clear and brilliant color, and especially the grace, the melancholy and the questioning look of the young woman, undoubtedly an intimacy of the Dauphine Catherine de Medici, make this portrait one of the most endearing works of the Lyonnais master.
We thank Mrs Alexandra Zvereva for having kindly confirmed the authenticity of this portrait by a visual examination and for the writing of this notice.
