Circle of Francois Clouet

Essay:

François (or Francis) Clouet was a pupil of his father, Jean Clouet (1485–1540/1541), who worked as court portraitist to King François I.

François Clouet first appears in the royal account books in 1540s as “paintre et varlet de chambre.” Praising both artists the King stated that the son imitated the father very well. Indeed, it is not always easy to distinguish between the two; in his 1971 monograph on Jean Clouet, Peter Mellen writes that certain drawings from around 1540 might be assigned to father or son. This is exacerbated by the fact that they very rarely signed their works.

While the combination of Netherlandish and Italian influences seen in François’ work can already be seen in that of Jean, there are additional influences from Bronzino, Salviati, and Titian, as well as from the indigenous School of Fontainebleau.

Throughout his life, François Clouet was painter and valet de chambre to four successive French monarchs: François I (r. 1515–1547), Henri II (r. 1547–1559), François II (r. 1559–1560), and Charles IX (r. 1560–1574).

The artist is known to have made his will on September 21, 1572. He died the following day.

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The girl in this portrait is wearing a bejewelled headdress decorated with flowers, a ruff, and a black Ropa (Spanish Gown) with gold passementerie. These sumptuous clothes are to show off her wealth and high social status among the courtly circles of Northern Europe.

The inscription providing the year and the girl's age would have functioned much like an official document to record the child's existence and likeness. The portrait might have been intended to circulate among families of potential suitors for marriage once the girl came of age.

The inscription states that our young sitter was 9-years-old when this portrait was painted in 1587 indicating that she was born in 1578. One possible identity which could be suggested for her is Catharina Belgica of Nassau (31 July 1578 – 12 April 1648), one of the six daughters of William the Silent (aka William of Orange) and his third wife Charlotte of Bourbon. Catharina married Philipp Ludwig II, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg in 1596.

An undated portrait where Catharina appears around 4 years-old was probably commissioned by her godmother Catharina von Schwarzburg-Arnstadt (Siegerland Museum, Sieger, Germany, inv. no.: R 219). She was also painted in 1617 by Jan Antonisz. van Ravesteyn.

The present picture is similar to another painting of a child sitter from the circle of Francois Clouet which Rafael Valls Ltd sold in 2024. It appears probable that there was a workshop and even itinerant pupils of Clouet who produced these child portraits in the 1500s.

It is interesting to note that the painting is on a soft fruit wood panel commonly used in Germany during this period, while hard oak wood was used in the Low Countries to the almost total exclusion of soft woods. This would tally with the biography of the presumed sitter as Catharina Belgica was born in Antwerp but moved to Arnstadt in Germany when she was around 6-years-old.

Provenance:

Private collection, France