15 Paintings, PORTRAIT OF A LADY, by Konstantin Korovin, with Footnotes. # 10

Korovin Konstantin [1861-1939]

Muse. 1887

Oil on canvas

The State Tretyakov Gallery

Konstantin Alekseyevich Korovin (5 December  1861 – 11 September 1939) was a leading Russian Impressionist painter.

Konstantin was born in Moscow to a merchant family officially registered as "peasants of Vladimir Gubernia". His father, Aleksey Mikhailovich Korovin, earned a university degree and was more interested in arts and music than in the family business established by Konstantin's grandfather. Konstantin's older brother Sergei Korovin was a notable realist painter. Konstantin's relative Illarion Pryanishnikov was also a prominent painter of the time and a teacher at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

In 1875 Korovin entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where he studied with Vasily Perov and Alexei Savrasov. His brother Sergei was already a student at the school. During their student years, the Korovins became friends with fellow students Valentin Serov and Isaac Levitan; Konstantin maintained these friendships throughout his life.

Konstantin Korovin (1861–1939)

Portrait SN Galitzine. 1886

Oil on canvas

Collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery

In 1881–1882, Korovin spent a year at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, but returned disappointed to the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. He studied at the school under his new teacher Vasily Polenov until 1886.

Konstantin Korovin (1861–1939)

"Paris Cafe" (second half 1890)

Oil on canvas

The paintings, inspired by Paris, shows Korovin's strong impressionism. A cozy corners Parisian café with vistas of the boulevard. The subtlest tonal gradations of light transmits the smallest details of the effects of: humidity, light fog, light halos sunlight, condensation and rarefied atmosphere. The picture is full of the cheer and happiness, that distinguishes most of the artist's paintings.

Korovin Konstantin [1861-1939]

Spaniard. 1894

Oil on canvas

58 x 33 cm

In 1885 Korovin traveled to Paris and Spain. "Paris was a shock for me … Impressionists… in them I found everything I was scolded for back home in Moscow", he later wrote.

Konstantin Korovin (1861–1939)

"In the balcony. Leonora and Ampara Spanish flu" (1888-1889)

Oil on canvas

Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia

The painting was begun in 1888 in Valencia, during a trip to Spain, and finished in 1889 in Moscow. To thank the girls posing, Ampara and Leonora, the artist presented them with their favorite shoes and shawls of Chinese silk. In 1889, Korovin made his debut with the "Spanish flu" in the exhibition of the Wanderers, and in 1900 won the gold medal in the framework of the Russian exposition at the World Exhibition in Paris. This contributed to his European and world-famous renown. "Spanish flu" was important because color was an evident attitude for the painter, "warming" tone. Light, moving impressionistic brushstrokes are combined with decorative Art Nouveau. More

In 1888 Korovin traveled with Mamontov to Italy and Spain, where he produced the painting On the Balcony, Spanish Women Leonora and Ampara (above). Konstantin traveled within Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia and exhibited with the Peredvizhniki. He painted in the Impressionist, and later in the Art Nouveau, styles.

In the 1890s Korovin became a member of the Mir iskusstva art group.

Konstantin Korovin (1861–1939)

"Northern Idyll" (1892)

Oil on canvas

State Tretyakov Gallery

The idea for this ​​painting came to Korovin while working on a design for the opera "The Snow Maiden" based on the play by Alexander Ostrovsky. At the time the artist was working in the theater and often turned to the subject of folklore. In the picture are clearly visible innovative techniques Korovin in theatrical decorative art. Strong contrast of bright, saturated colors of the national costumes, combined with dark tones vechereyuschego sky, eclectic detailed landscape images and generalized patches of color figures. This was new to the theater. The painting reflects the poetic relationship between man and nature, it carries the Russian national coloring.

Korovin Konstantin [1861-1939]

Study for the painting "Northern Idyll." 1886

Oil on canvas

The State Russian Museum

Korovin's subsequent works were strongly influenced by his travels to the north. In 1888 he was captivated by the stern northern landscapes seen in The Coast of Norway and the Northern Sea.

Korovin Konstantin [1861-1939]

Portrait ON Alyab'evoy. 1889

Oil on canvas

The State Tretyakov Gallery

His second trip to the north, with Valentin Serov in 1894, coincided with the construction of the Northern Railway. Korovin painted a large number of landscapes: Norwegian Port, St. Triphon's Brook in Pechenga, Hammerfest: Aurora Borealis, The Coast at Murmansk and others. The paintings are built on a delicate web of shades of grey. The etude style of these works was typical for Korovin's art of the 1890s.

orovin Konstantin [1861-1939]

Paper lanterns, c. 1898

Oil on canvas

37.5 x 51.5 cm

Chuvash State Art Museum

In 1900 Korovin designed the Central Asia section of the Russian Empire pavilion at the Paris World Fair and was awarded the Legion of Honour by the French government.

Konstantin Korovin (1861-1939)

Creek, c. 1902

Oil on canvas

Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia

In the beginning of the 20th century, Korovin focused his attention on the theater. He moved from Mamontov's opera to the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. Departing from traditional stage decor, which only indicated the place of action, Korovin produced a mood decor conveying the general emotions of the performance. Korovin designed sets for Konstantin Stanislavsky's dramatic productions, as well as Mariinsky's operas and ballets. He did the stage design for such Mariinsky productions as Faust (1899), The Little Humpbacked Horse (1901), and Sadko (1906) that became famous for their expressiveness.

Konstantin Korovin (1861-1939)

Près de la Fenêtre

Oil on canvas

In 1905 Korovin became an Academician of Painting and in 1909–1913 a professor at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

One of the artist's favourite themes was Paris. He painted A Paris Cafe (1890s), Cafe de la Paix (1905), La Place de la Bastille (1906), Paris at Night, Le Boulevard Italien (1908), Night Carnival (1901), Paris in the Evening (1907), and others.

Korovin Konstantin [1861-1939]

Nadezhda Komarovskaya, c. 1910

Oil on canvas

During World War I Korovin worked as a camouflage consultant at the headquarters of one of the Russian armies and was often seen on the front lines. After the October Revolution Korovin continued to work in the theater, designing stages for Richard Wagner's Die Walküre and Siegfried, as well as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker (1918–1920).

Korovin Konstantin [1861-1939]

In A Room, c.  1919

Oil on canvas

Voronezh Regional Museum of Fine Arts (Kramskoi Museum), Voronezh, Russia

Korovin Konstantin [1861-1939]

Portrait Of A Woman, c. 1912

Oil on canvas

National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia

In 1923 Korovin moved to Paris on the advice of Commissar of Education Anatoly Lunacharsky to cure his heart condition and help his handicapped son. There was supposed to be a large exhibition of Korovin's works, but the works were stolen and Korovin was left penniless. For years, he produced the numerous Russian Winters and Paris Boulevards just to make ends meet.

Korovin Konstantin [1861-1939]

Woman With Guitar, c. 1919

Oil on canvas

Apartment Museum of Joseph Brodsky, Saint Petersburg, Russia

In the last years of his life he produced stage designs for many of the major theatres of Europe, America, Asia and Australia, the most famous of which is his scenery for the Turin Opera House's production of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's The Golden Cockerel.


Korovin died in Paris on 11 September 1939.

Acknowledgement: Wikipedia, Evening Moscow, 

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others

12 Paintings, PORTRAIT OF A LADY, Valtesse de la Bigne, and others, with Footnotes. # 11

Henri Gervex, (French, 1852–1929)

La toilette , ca. 1878–1879

The model portrayed is the courtesan Madame Valtesse de la Bigne.

Oil on canvas

55.5 x 38.2 cm. (21.9 x 15 in.)

Private Collection

Gervex painted La Toilette in circa 1878-9 soon after his scandalous Rolla (below) was removed from public exhibition at the Paris Salon of 1878, leaving him to show it at the art dealer Bagne's gallery.

Henri Gervex (Paris 10 December 1852 – 7 June 1929) was a French painter who studied painting under Alexandre Cabanel, Pierre-Nicolas Brisset and Eugène Fromentin. His early work belonged almost exclusively to the mythological genre, which served as an excuse for the painting of the nude, but not always in the best of taste. His Rolla of 1878, based on a poem by Alfred de Musset, was rejected by the jury of the Salon de Paris for immorality, since it depicted a scene from the poem of a naked prostitute after having sex with her client.

Gervex afterwards devoted himself to representations of modern life and achieved signal success with his Dr Péan at the Salpétrière ("The Operation"), a modernized paraphrase, as it were, of Rembrandt's Anatomy Lesson. More Henri Gervex

Henri Gervex (1852–1929)

Rolla , c. 1878

Oil on canvas

175 × 220 cm (68.9 × 86.6 in)

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux

The painting depicts Marion from Alfred de Museet's 1833 novel Rolla, in which Jacques Rolla spends the last of his squandered inheritance on a night with the fifteen year old courtesan before throwing himself from a balcony. 

This repeated an experience shared by his friend Édouard Manet, whose Nana (below) had been rejected in 1877, leading him to boldly display the work in the window of Giroux's boutique on the Boulevard des Capucines, which sold women's accessories and decorative objects rather than fine art.

Henri Gervex (1852–1929), see above

Édouard Manet (1832–1883)

Nana, c. 1877

Oil on canvas

154 × 115 cm (60.6 × 45.3 in)

Kunsthalle Hamburg

The painting shows a young and beautiful woman who stands before a mirror with two extinguished candles, her face turned to the spectator. Her dress is incomplete; she wears a white chemise, blue corset, silk stockings and high-heeled footwear. The interior suggests that it is a boudoir. Behind the woman is a sofa with two pillows. An elegantly dressed man, sitting on the sofa, can be partly seen on the right of the painting. On the left side, there is a chair, a table and a flowerpot.

Both the title and the numerous details suggest that the picture represents a high class prostitute and her client. Nana was a popular name in the second half of the 19th century for a woman who was a harlot and the French word "nana" is still used to describe a frivolous woman (or simply "a female" in argot. More Nana

Édouard Manet (23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, and a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism.

His early masterworks, The Luncheon on the Grass (Le déjeuner sur l'herbe) and Olympia, both 1863, caused great controversy and served as rallying points for the young painters who would create Impressionism. Today, these are considered watershed paintings that mark the genesis of modern art. More

Henri Gervex (1852–1929),

Valtesse de la Bigne, c. 1879

Oil on canvas

200 × 122 cm,

Musée d'Orsay.

In Gervex's celebrated portrait of Madame Valtesse de la Bigne (above), submitted to the Salon of 1879, Madame Valtesse wears a hat of the same pale cream color and shape as that set on the small table in La Toilette...

Émilie-Louise Delabigne, known as countess Valtesse de La Bigne (1848, Paris – 29 July 1910,[1] Ville-d'Avray) was a French courtesan and demi-mondaine. Daughter of a violent alcoholic father and a laundry maid from Normandy who had become a prostitute, she started work in a Paris sweet-shop. Aged 13, she was raped in the street by an old man. She modelled for the painter Corot, whose studio was in the district where she lived. She became a prostitute very young. This was clandestine prostitution, often in doorways and with the risk of police arrest or having her hair shaved off as punishment.

Henri Gervex (1852–1929), see above

Jean Béraud (1849–1935)

Le Bal Mabille

Oil on panel

14.3 × 23.5 cm (5.6 × 9.3 in)

Private collection

Quickly moving onto rich clients, she trained at the Bal Mabille on Sundays,and worked in a women's underwear shop on the Champ-de-Mars, frequented by high-ranking officers, enabling her to dream of social climbing. There she met and fell in love with a 20-year-old man, Richard Fossey, with whom she had two children, though she continued in prostitution and Fossey left her two years later without marrying her. 

She took the pseudonym 'Valtesse', due to its similarity to 'Votre Altesse' (your highness). She profited from foreign clients visiting Paris and aspired to join the 'archidrôlesses', a group of courtesans.

Jean Béraud (French: January 12, 1848 – October 4, 1935) was a French painter renowned for his numerous paintings depicting the life of Paris, and the nightlife of Paris society. Pictures of the Champs Elysees, cafés, Montmartre and the banks of the Seine are precisely detailed illustrations of everyday Parisian life during the "Belle Époque". He also painted religious subjects in a contemporary setting. More

Édouard Manet (1832–1883)

Mademoiselle Lucie Delabigne, c. 1879

Valtesse de La Bigne

Pastel on canvas

55.2 × 35.6 cm (21.7 × 14 in)

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Édouard Manet (1832–1883), see above

Édouard Manet (1832–1883)

Mademoiselle Lucie Delabigne, c. 1879

Detail

Jacques Offenbach, composer, brought Valtesse to public attention with a small role at the Bouffes-Parisiens. Her debut was as Hebe in Orphée aux Enfers – one critic judged that she was "as red and timid as a virgin by Titian". She became the composer's mistress and thus gained access to fashionable restaurants where she met Zola, Flaubert and Maupassant. Even the starvation of the siege of Paris did not dampen her aspirations – she was made a countess by Napoleon III.

Henri Gervex (French, 1852–1929)

The wedding of Mathurin Moreau in the city hall of Paris, c. 1881

The model portrayed is the courtesan Madame Valtesse de la Bigne

Oil on canvas

83x99

Musee des Beaux-Arts, Dunkirk, France

Henri Gervex used her as the model for the courtesan in Civil Marriage, which decorated the marriage room in the mairie of Paris's 19th arrondissement. She also inspired the heroine of La Nichina, the novel by Hugues Rebell, and the character Altesse in her friend and lover Liane de Pougy's novel Idylle saphique.

Henri Gervex (1852–1929), see above

Henri Gervex (French, 1852–1929)

The wedding of Mathurin Moreau in the city hall of Paris, c. 1881

Detail

At the end of the war, Valtesse quickly launched herself as a high-class courtesan, leaving Offenbach and shifting her attentions to prince Lubomirski, who installed her in an apartment in rue Saint-Georges. She wrecked it, left him and had a succession of other rich lovers, such as prince de Sagan, who she also bankrupted by having him build her a hôtel particulier designed by Jules Février between 1873 and 1876 at 98.

She showed Émile Zola round her hôtel particulier. Her bedchamber and bed were the inspiration for those in his novel Nana: When she read the novel, Valtesse was indignant to find such a description of her decor – "some traces of tender foolishness and gaudy splendour". and called the character of Nana (for which she was the inspiration) "a vulgar whore, stupid, rude!". Zola was still luckier than Alexandre Dumas fils – when the latter asked to enter her bedroom, she coldly replied "Dear sir, it's not within your means!"

All Henri Gervex

Portrait of Mme Valtesse de la Bigne, c. 1889 

Louvre

Henri Gervex (1852–1929), see above

Alexander Varvaridze

Orange Woman #1 

 oil on canvas 1996

 100x115cm

Private Collection

Paul Augustin Aïzpiri, 1919-2016

LA FILLETTE AUX NATTES/ Girl with pigtails 

Oil on canvas

39 3/8 by 31 7/8 in., 100 by 81 cm

Private Collection

Paul Augustin Aizpiri (14 May 1919 – 22 January 2016) was a French artist. Aizpiris art is largely influenced by expressionist and Cubist elements. The motives have often been vases and clown portraits , but he also has taken motifs from the more typical French, among other Mediterranean cities. His artwork is often characterized by a distinctive use of color, which makes his pictures easily recognizable. Aïzpiri is particularly highly valued in Japan, where he has his own museum. More Aizpiri

PORTRAITS OF PHOEBE JEWETT AND HANNAH M. JEWETT: A PAIR

the first inscribed P.L.J., Aged 21, painted by S.J. Hamblin, Chamber Street, Boston, 1841; the second inscribed H.M.J., Aged 16 yrs. Painted by S.J. Hamblin, 1841. 

Oi on artist board

Each: 14 1/4 by 10 in.

Private Collection

Phoebe and Hannah Jewett were born to Aaron Jewett (1797-1882) and Hannah Eaton Jewett (1798-1849). Phoebe was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1820, married Franklin Coburn (1818-1894) in 1844 and died there in 1894. They had two children. Hannah was born in Grafton, New Hampshire in 1825, married Theodore Hamblet (1819-1908) in 1846 in Dracut, Massachusetts and died there in 1910. The couple had two children. More PHOEBE  AND HANNAH JEWETT

Pino Daeni, 1939 - 2010

Silent Contemplation

Giclee Hand Embellished Canvas. Serigraph

28x28  inches

. Private Collection

Pino Daeni- 1939 - 2010 ,  Italian artist, Pino Daeni's art and canvases elicit feelings of warmth, nostalgia, love and family. His paintings are often set on vibrantly sunny beaches on the Mediterranean where he grew up. Pino is noted for his exceptional ability to capture the movements and expressions of his subjects - a talent which has brought his artwork a worldwide following and private commissions to do portraits.

Trained in Italy at the Art institute of Bari, and later at Milan’s Academy of Brera, Pino perfected his skills painting nudes and figure studies heavily influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites and Macchiaioli.

After establishing himself as a successful artist in his native land, Pino immigrated to the United States, seeking more artistic freedom and opportunity. He was soon discovered by the Borghi Gallery, which gave several exhibitions for him in New York and Boston.

In 1980 Zebra commissioned him to do his first book cover; his popularity grew within the literary community and he became the artist-in-demand for Zebra, Bantam, Simon, and Schuster, Harlequin, Penquin USA and Dell. To date, Pino has illustrated 3,000 books; his style has dominated the market. More Pino

Acknowledgement: Sotheby's, Wikipedia, 

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others

10 Paintings, PORTRAIT OF A LADY, School of Fontainebleau, and Diane de Poitiers, with Footnotes. #9

The Ecole de Fontainebleau (c.1530–c.1610) refers to two periods of artistic production in France during the late Renaissance centered on the royal Château de Fontainebleau, that were crucial in forming the French version of Northern Mannerism.

School of Fontainebleau, (c.1530–c.1610)

Woman at her Toilette, c. 1550-1570

Oil on panel

Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.

The subject of this work- identified variously as Diane de Poitiers, Mary, Queen of Scots, and other figures of royalty- remains unconfirmed. Several variants of this composition exist, supporting the theory that a famous prototype must have been their common inspiration.

 Anonymous from the School of Fontainebleau

Lady at her toilet, late 16th century

Oil painting on canvas 

Height: 105 cm; Width: 76 cm

 Museum of Fine Arts of Dijon

The Lady at her Toilet" meets all the criteria of beauty of the school of Fontainebleau : generous body to the little waistline and chest high, face with regular features, a straight nose to the small mouth and eyebrows. Glowing skin, blonde hair of golden shine, dark eyes. Capped with pearls, scarcely dressed in a transparent veil held by a collar embroidered with gold, she adorns herself, while behind her her maidservant seeks clothes in a chest. 

Her almost frontal bust curiously emerges behind a tablet on which are placed the cushion on which the lady rests her arm, a comb, a jewel box, flowers and a sumptuous mirror carried by statuettes without arms. The distant gaze, the lady carries to her breast a left hand which plays with the pendant of her necklace, while her right hand holds a ring with a precious gesture. More

MASTER of the Fontainebleau School, (second half of the 16th century)

Diane de Poitiers, c. 1590

Tempera on wood

115 x 98,5 cm

Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Basel

The painting shows Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of King Henry II of France before her mirror. 

Diane de Poitiers (3 September 1499 – 25 April 1566) was a French noblewoman and a prominent courtier at the courts of king Francis I and his son, King Henry II of France. She became notorious as King Henry's favourite. Because of this, she wielded much influence and power at the French Court, which continued until Henry was mortally wounded in a tournament accident. It was during this tournament that his lance wore her favour (ribbon) rather than his wife's.

MASTER of the Fontainebleau School

Portrait of Gabrielle d'Estrées with her Sister, c. 1590s

Oil on wood

129 x 97 cm

Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

This and a more frankly erotic version in the Louvre (below) are generally described as portraits of Gabrielle d'Estrées. She was the great love of King Henri IV, who had intended to marry her - hence the gesture toward the ring finger. Though nudity had auspicious overtones of fertility and was a more socially acceptable state than it is in today's Western culture, this painting was certainly meant to arouse. More

Fontainbleau, the famous French royal residence, was the site of great artistic activity in the mid-sixteenth century during the rule of Francis I. Developed at this court and nearly unique to it was the concept of a boudoir portrait, depicting the sitter in intimate circumstances. The Worcester panel has been connected specifically with François Clouet (about 1510-72), who served as court painter at Fontainbleau under both Francis I and Charles IV. Clouet was greatly influenced by Italian Mannerist portraiture with its emphasis on refined elegance and a great clarity and precision of draftsmanship. More

School of Fontainebleau, attributed to François Clouet

Portrait présumé de Gabrielle d'Estrées et de sa soeur la duchesse de Villars, c. 1594

Oil on oak panel

Height: 96 cm (37.8 in). Width: 125 cm (49.2 in).

Louvre Museum, Paris

Gabrielle d'Estrées, Duchess of Beaufort and Verneuil, Marchioness of Monceaux (1573 – 10 April 1599) was a mistress, confidante and adviser of Henry IV of France. She persuaded Henry to renounce Protestantism in favour of Catholicism in 1593. Later she urged French Catholics to accept the Edict of Nantes, which granted certain rights to the Protestants. It was legally impossible for the king to marry her, because he was already married to Margaret of Valois, but he acknowledged Gabrielle as the mother of three of his children, and as "the subject most worthy of our friendship".

After applying to Pope Clement VIII for an annulment of his marriage and authority to remarry, in March 1599 Henry gave his mistress his coronation ring. Gabrielle, so sure that the wedding would take place, stated, "Only God or the king's death could put an end to my good luck".[ A few days later, on 9 April, she suffered an attack of eclampsia and gave birth to a stillborn son. King Henry was at the Château de Fontainebleau when news arrived of her illness. The next day, 10 April 1599, while Henry was on his way to her, she died in Paris.   More

MASTER of the Fontainebleau School

Allegory of the Birth of the Dauphin, c. 1560

Oil on panel

91 x 125 cm

Staatliche Museen, Berlin

Allegory of the Birth of the Dauphin by Master Of the Fontainebleau school, painted in 1560, is an example of a mythological painting which demonstrates the technique of oil on panel. Mythological paintings, were categorized within historical paintings and therefore the most prestigious by the French Académie de peinture et de sculpture.They depict a mythological scene rather than a specific, static subject, such as a portrait. They are often large in size incredibly detailed. More

In 1531, the Florentine artist Rosso Fiorentino, having lost most of his possessions at the Sack of Rome in 1527, was invited by François I to come to France, where he began an extensive decorative program for the Château de Fontainebleau. In 1532 he was joined by another Italian artist, Francesco Primaticcio (from Bologna). On the advice of Primaticcio, Niccolò dell'Abbate (from Modena) was invited to France in 1552 by François's son Henri II. Although known for their work at Fontainebleau, these artists were also invited to create works of art for other noble families of the period and were much esteemed and well-paid.

School of Fontainebleau, attributed to CLOUET, François, (1510 - 1572)

A Lady in Her Bath, c. 1571

Oil on wood

92 x 81 cm

National Gallery of Art, Washington

Only two signed paintings by François Clouet are known to exist, of which this, generally regarded as one of the great masterpieces of the French Renaissance art, is one. The subject, shown seated in her bath, traditionally was believed to be the famous beauty, Diane de Poitiers (1499-1566), a favourite of Henry II and virtual ruler of France. However, this identification is now rejected, and the dating, placed either in the 1550s or around 1571 is debated. Other candidates for the identity of the sitter are Mary Stuart (Mary, Queen of Scots) and Marie Touchet, mistress to Charles IX. More

The painting shows a a family scene involving the mother, sitting in her wooden chestnut bathtub . She wears a tiara and pearls on her forehead. In the background a curtain which reverses the perspective, a nurse with coarse features nursing a swaddled infant. In the background, at the bottom of the chamber a servant carrying a large pot of hot water for bathing. The allegorical analysis of many details (ironic presence of the unicorn, fruit cup, a symbol of sensual indulgence with the bunch of grapes, official sign of temporal power) suggests that the topless woman is Mary whose sentimental differences were the laughing stock of Europe. The painting may have been ordered by a Protestant wanting to make a political satire of the queen with her nudity and derogatory clutching a red carnation (symbol of her many engagements). The painting could also be an allegory of the three theological virtues: the child would be hope, the nurse would be the nurturing faith and the nude woman, charity.  More

After François Clouet (1515–1572)

Lady in bath (Portrait of Diane de Poitiers), circa 1571

Oil on panel

92.1 × 81.3 cm (36.3 × 32 in)

Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris

The bather is seated in her tub, which is lined with a white cloth and hung on both sides with regal crimson curtains to ward off the cold. Her left hand draws back the bath sheet revealing the artist's name inscribed below, while her right hand rests on a covered board that displays a sumptuously rendered still life. Slightly behind the bather a young boy reaches for some grapes as a smiling wet nurse suckles a baby. In the background, a maid is seen holding a metal pitcher of bath water as more water is heated in the fireplace. The allusion is to a happy, healthy home. More

The works of this "first school of Fontainebleau" are characterized by the extensive use of stucco and frescos, and an elaborate system of allegories and mythological iconography. Renaissance decorative motifs such as grotesques, strapwork and putti are common, as well as a certain degree of eroticism. The figures are elegant and show the influence of the techniques of the Italian Mannerism of Michelangelo, Raphael and especially Parmigianino. Primaticcio was also directed to make copies of antique Roman statues for the king, thus spreading the influence of classical statuary. 

MASTER of the Fontainebleau School

Diane de Poitiers, c. 1590

Tempera on wood

115 x 98,5 cm

Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Basel

Many of the works of Rosso, Primaticcio and dell'Abate have not survived; parts of the Chateau were remodelled at various dates. The paintings of the group were reproduced in prints, mostly etchings, which were apparently produced initially at Fontainebleau itself, and later in Paris. These disseminated the style through France and beyond, and also record several paintings that have not survived.

Jan Matsys (1509–1575)

Bathsheba Observed by King David, first half of 16th century

An idealised portrait of Diane de Poitiers

Oil on panel

Height: 110 cm (43.3 in). Width: 76 cm (29.9 in).

Private collection

Jan Massijs or Jan Matsys (c.1510, Antwerp – 8 October 1575, Antwerp) was a Flemish Renaissance painter known for his history paintings, genre scenes and landscapes.

He was the son of leading Antwerp painter Quinten Matsys and the older brother of Cornelis, who became a painter and engraver. He trained under his father. He was admitted, together with his brother, as a master in the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1531, a year after their father's death. It is assumed that he left Antwerp immediately thereafter and worked for a while in Fontainebleau, but these facts are not firmly established. He was back in Antwerp by 1536.

In 1544 Jan and his brother Cornelis were banned from Antwerp because of their religious beliefs. It is possible that Jan returned to Fontainebleau and Germany. It is certain that he spent time in Genoa. He returned to Antwerp before the end of 1555 when the ban imposed on him was ended. 

He had been sufficiently rehabilitated for the local city council to commission several works from him. These works were destroyed in 1576 when Spanish troops set the city hall on fire during the Spanish Fury and the Sack of Antwerp. Jan Massijs had died the year before having been reduced to a state bordering on poverty. More.

The mannerist style of the Fontainebleau school influenced French artists (with whom the Italians worked) such as the painter Jean Cousin the Elder, the sculptors Jean Goujon and Germain Pilon, and, to a lesser degree, the painter and portraitist François Clouet the son of Jean Clouet.

Primaticcio, from the French school of Fontainebleau

Portrait of Diane de Poitiers as "Diane the Huntress"

painted at Chenonceau in 1556, France

From 1584 to 1594, during the Wars of Religion the château of Fontainebleau was abandoned. Upon his accession to the throne, Henri IV undertook a renovation of the Fontainebleau buildings using a group of artists: the Flemish born Ambroise Dubois (from Antwerp) and the Parisians Toussaint Dubreuil and Martin Fréminet. They are sometimes referred to as the "second school of Fontainebleau". Their late mannerist works, many of which have been lost, continue in the use of elongated and undulating forms and crowded compositions. Many of their subjects include mythological scenes and scenes from works of fiction by the Italian Torquato Tasso and the ancient Greek novelist Heliodorus of Emesa.

Their style would continue to have an influence on artists through the first decades of the 17th century, but other artistic currents (Peter Paul Rubens, Caravaggio, the Dutch and Flemish naturalist schools) would soon eclipse them.   More

Acknowledgement: Wikipedia

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