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Portrait of Catherine de' Medici

Copy after François Clouet (French, ca. 1516-1572)

ca. 1580 (Renaissance)

oil on panel

13 1/4 x 10 in. (33.7 x 25.4 cm)

Description
Catherine de' Medici (1519-89) was the daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici, the duke of Urbino, and his French wife. Catherine married the duke of Orleans, later King Henry II of France (1519-59). Here, she is depicted with a widow's cap, which she continued to wear long after her husband's death. She was a patron and admirer of the exquisite enamel tableware produced in Limoges.

A linear, refined style with little shading is typical of the work of François Clouet, painter to the French court at Fontainebleau and a favorite of Queen Catherine. There are many versions of this painting, made for courtiers and family who wanted a portrait of the queen.
Additional Information

Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902

37.415

Charles Street: Third Floor: 16th Century Art

Fontainebleau, France


Provenance

Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [no. 588]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

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