Portrait of Catherine de' Medici

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.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
1/23/1942	Treatment	coated; inpainted; varnish removed or reduced
4/10/1992	Examination	examined for condition
9/01/1995	Treatment	chemical analysis; cleaned; coated; filled; infrared spectroscopy; inpainted; media consolidation; surface cleaned; varnish removed or reduced; x-ray

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

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902