Anne de Pisseleu (1508–1576), Duchesse d'Étampes
ca. 1535–40
Medium
Oil on wood
Dimensions
7 x 5 5/8 in. (17.8 x 14.3 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
Accession Number
29.100.197
Tags
Art Historical Context
This intimate portrait by Corneille de Lyon Anne de Pissele, Duchesse d'Étampes (1508–1576), a figure at the French court during the Renaissance. Painted around 1535–40 in oil on wood, the small panel (just 7 x 5 5/8 inches) exemplifies the artist's specialty: jewel-like portraits of nobility, often no larger than a postcard, ideal for private display or travel. Corneille de, a Flemish-born painter active in Lyon, France served the royal circle under King Francis I. His style blends Northern European precision—think crisp details and luminous skin tones reminiscent of enamel—with Italian Rena...
About the Artist
Corneille de Lyon · 1533–1575
Corneille de Lyon, born around 1500 in The Hague in the Netherlands, emerged as one of the premier portraitists of the French Renaissance after settling in Lyon by 1533. A Netherlandish artist who became naturalized as a French citizen in 1547, he quickly rose in prominence, serving as official painter to the Dauphin (later Henry II) from around 1540 and continuing under Henry II and Charles IX as...