François Clouet

French, before 1520 - 1572

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French Renaissance miniaturist and painter (c.1510-1572)

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Red satin drapes are drawn back to either side of this vertical painting to reveal a nude woman with pale, white skin sitting upright in a narrow bathtub. The woman occupies the right half of the painting. To our left, another woman nursing a swaddled baby and a child, all also with pale skin, gather near the tub. The bathing woman’s body is angled slightly to our left but she looks into the distance to our right. She has a straight nose, small pink lips, dark eyes, and smooth skin. Her brown hair is pulled up under a jeweled cap, and she wears pearl earrings, a gold bracelet on each wrist, and a gold ring with a pink stone on her left pinky finger. She holds a carnation with her right hand, on our left. The inside of the tub is draped with white fabric, which folds over the sides. A bowl of fruit and flowers are scattered on what must be a board spanning the tub, which is also covered with a white cloth. From the far side of the tub, the child reaches for the fruit. The woman nursing the baby has one breast exposed but is otherwise fully dressed in a garment with red sleeves and a white cap. The woman has a prominent nose, and she smiles as she looks at us from the corners of her eyes. The room behind these women has fireplace with an ornate mantel and windows open to a landscape to our left. A picture showing a unicorn resting in front of a tree and a dark mirror hangs on the wall between the fireplace and windows. At a table placed in front of the fireplace, a third light-skinned woman leans over and lifts a jug.
François Clouet, A Lady in Her Bath, c. 1571, oil on oak, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.13

A Lady in Her Bath

François Clouet · c. 1571 · oil on oak ·  Accession ID  1961.9.13

Bibliography

1923

  • Ede, H.S. “Authenticated Information Concerning Jehannet and François Clouet.” The Burlington Magazine 42, no. 240 (March 1923): 111–130.

1924

  • Dimier, Louis. Histoire de la peinture de portrait en France au xv ie siècle. 3 vols. Paris and Brussels, 1924–1926.

  • Moreau-Nélaton, Etienne. Les Clouet et leurs émules. 3 vols. Paris, 1924.

1968

  • Grodecki, Catherine. Histoire de l’art au xv ie siècle (1540–1600). ii: sculpture, peinture, broderie, émail et faïence, orfèvrerie, armures. Paris, 1968: 162-167.

1970

  • Sterling, Charles. “A Male Portrait by Jean Clouet.” Museum Monographs (City Art Museum of St. Louis) 2 (1970): 2, 61, fig. 7.

1971

  • Mellen, Peter. Jean Clouet: Complete Edition of the Drawings, Miniatures, and Paintings. London, 1971.

2009

  • Conisbee, Philip, et al. French Paintings of the Fifteenth through the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2009: 113-114.