François QUESNEL (1543-1619), workshop of - Lot 176

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  3. François QUESNEL (1543-1619), workshop of - Lot 176
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Lot n° 176
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12000 - 15000 EUR
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Result : 20 800EUR
François QUESNEL (1543-1619), workshop of - Lot 176
François QUESNEL (1543-1619), workshop of Portrait of Marie Touchet de Belleville, Countess of Entragues Oil on panel. H_29 cm W_22 cm Restoration, small crack. Related works : - Attributed to François Quesnel, Portrait of Henriette d'Entragues, oil on panel, 36 x 28 cm, Château de Chantilly, Musée Condé - Repetition of above, Portrait d'Henriette d'Entragues, oil on panel, 35.8 x 25.8 cm, Château de Versailles, inv. MV 5500 - François Quesnel, Portrait of Henriette d'Entragues, pencil drawing, 33.1 x 23.9 cm, BnF - Portrait de Marie Touchet, d'Entragues, oil on panel, 32 x 23 cm, Château de Versailles, inv. MV 3247 - Engraving from the historical gallery of Versailles for Charles Gavard's book, drawn by Belloli after François Clouet or his workshop, 1839-1848, inv. 2012.0.47.9 - Set of drawings (probably pre-engraving drawings by Belloli for the 1837 guide), Bonhams sale, 25/11/2009, lot 102. Our very fine portrait, of which we know another identical example preserved at the Château de Versailles (MV 3247, not photographed), from the Gaignières collection and presented to Louis XIV, represents Marie Touchet, Countess d'Entragues. For nine years, she was the mistress of French king Charles IX, with whom she had Charles d'Angoulême, future peer of France. Her beauty was legendary, and many contemporaries described her as a woman whose wit matched her beauty. Another portrait, formerly attributed to Pourbus le jeune and preserved in the Musée Condé, of Henriette d'Entragues, daughter of Marie Touchet and mistress of Henry IV, shares similarities with our painting in the quality of execution of the face, hairstyle and costume. Today, this portrait is attributed to the French painter Francois Quesnel. From a number of known portraits, we can identify a coherent corpus of paintings by the same artist or his close circle. Often wrongly attributed in the 19th century to the Flemish painter Frans Pourbus the Younger, these portraits of the French haute bourgeoisie can now be attributed to Francois Quesnel. A largely unknown painter today, Quesnel first appears in the account books in 1571, in connection with decorative work. Although he does not appear to occupy an official position as painter to the king like his predecessor François Clouet, he was an important court painter between the reigns of Charles IX and Henri IV. It is also interesting to note that the portrait of Henriette d'Entragues, our model's daughter, was also painted on several occasions in equivalent quality, as was our painting. Our portrait can thus be compared to other works by François Quesnel and his studio, notably in the treatment of the hair and the underlying design perceptible in the implementation of the nose. Particularly visible on our portrait, this process is also found on the painting of a young woman from Quesnel's workshop at the National Gallery in London, as well as on the portrait of Henry III at the Musee du Louvre. Works by Francois Quesnel are particularly rare and little known. Our portrait sheds new light on the French court portrait of the late 16th century. Our painting was known from the engraving published in 1839 to illustrate the works presented in the portrait room on the second floor of the north wing of the historical gallery at the Château de Versailles.
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