Portrait of Gabrielle de Rochechouart

portrait

While its attribution is not undisputed, this portrait is closely related to a group of miniature-like portraits ascribed to Corneille. Typical features include the neutral, somewhat iridescent grey-green background and the slight turn in the upper body and head, whose connection to the plane is re-established by the fall of the veil. The cool, distanced expression on the noblewoman's face, the precise drawing of her eyes, nose and lips, and the smooth planes of her forehead and cheeks assign this panel to the sphere of French court painting.

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About the Artist

Corneille De Lyon

1500 – 1574

Netherlandish-born painter, active mainly at Lyons in France. He was a native of The Hague (in France he is still often known as "Corneille de La Haye"), but he settled in Lyons in 1534 and in 1540 he became court painter to the Dauphin, later Henry II. Contemporary references to Corneille indicate that he had a considerable reputation as a portrait painter, but only one work survives that is unquestionably from his hand, a portrait of Pierre Aymeric (Louvre, Paris, 1553), authenticated by an inscription in the sitter's handwriting on the back of the picture. Many other works in a similar style go under his name. They are mostly small in scale and sharply naturalistic in manner, with the sitter usually set against a plain green or blue background.

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