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The painting shows Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of King Henry II of France before her mirror. She was a famous beauty of the time.Masters of the Fontainebleau [French Mannerist, 16th Century]
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4 comments:
How accurate can the painting of Diane de Poitiers (ca. 1590) be whenn she died some 24 years earlier in 1566? Are experts certain this is of Diane?
Good point, but I couldn't tell you, I'm not an expert myself. Maybe it's wrongly dated, or maybe it was painted after her death.
Thing is, if the artist painted her 24 years after her death, how did he know what she looked like; it's not like they had photographs, ya know (grin). I love looking up famous people dates and try and figure out who was around at the same time as others. But then when I run into stuff like a painting done by an artist who was probably in diapers when the sitter he's painting died, I get to wondering whether anyone else ever wonders, and if anyone knows for a fact one way or the other. I suppose I could go to college and study, but that's why the internet is so fun; someone out there might now and save me a lot of time. Smile. Thanks for replying, Mariana. Ms. Max
The only way I can see the possibility of the painting having been made after her death is if the artist copied her likeness from a previously made portrait; or if likeness was unimportant. I hear that lots of historical portraits were not at all accurate, and vastly embellished the sitter. But more likely the date is simply wrong.
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