French School Of The 17th Century Around 1600. Portrait Of The Countess Of Moret

Oil on copper Presented in a so-called "Cassetta" style frame in rosewood veneer and bone fillets Overall dimensions: 42 x 35 cm. Copper alone: 30 x 23 cm Jacqueline de Bueil, Countess of Moret Jacqueline de Bueil was born in 1588, she is the daughter of Claude de Bueil (1537-1596), Lord of Courcillon and La Marchère, companion in arms of Henri IV and Catherine de Montecler (1565-1596). Niece of the Grand Cupbearer of France, Jean VII de Bueil, she passes from time to time to the Court of the King... The latter sees her, and falls in love in the moment with this "fountain of youth", he sets out to find, immediately, a way to attract her to his bed. He could think of nothing better than to offer thirty thousand pounds to his grandmother, Jacqueline de La Trémoïlle, almost eighty years old. Very young and without fortune, she demanded that the king marry her to a gentleman from a good family. The king chose a husband for her, Philippe de Harlay de Champvallon, Count of Césy, whom she married on October 5, 1604, at six o'clock in the morning, in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés. Despite her nocturnal escapades in Paris, most often in the company of Bellegarde and Roquelaure, and followed by the pages of the service chamber carrying their torch (and in particular by the young Racan). The king was sufficiently attached to her to offer her, on January 1, 1605, the title of Countess of Moret, as well as a purse of nine thousand pounds. Just after the marriage, the husband was immediately asked to move away from his new wife (the divorce would be pronounced on July 18, 1607). (Which angered the then favourite, Henriette d'Entragues, Marquise de Verneuil. She felt obliged to share Henri IV's favours with Jacqueline.) He immediately returned to his native Lorraine, not wishing in any way to oppose the king. But the Countess of Moret did not seem to have learned her lesson: while Henri IV pretended to believe his mistress's arguments, she quickly consoled herself with another gentleman. But this time, the deceived king became angry and broke off his relationship immediately. When the king died, she remained at court. In the spring of 1617, she married René Crespin du Bec, Marquis de Vardes. From this union, two sons were born: Antoine (c.1620-1658), François René (c.1621-1688). Jacqueline de Bueil died in 1651. Her body rests in Moret-sur-le-Loing, in the church, in the chapel of Notre-Dame de la Pitié, where her tombstone is still visible. We can date this portrait from the 1600s and link it to the productions of the French painter and draftsman Étienne Dumonstier, born in 1540 in Paris, and where he died on October 25, 1603. In the service of royalty since he was thirteen. He worked for more than fifty years for kings such as Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX, Henry III and Henry IV and is considered the founder of the Dumonstier School, to whom historians attribute many portraits from the second half of the 16th century (a time when he was at the forefront). The eldest son of Geoffroy Dumonstier, he learned in the workshop of his father, also a painter, as well as in that of François Clouet (1520-1572), from whom he adopted the techniques and manners. His style differs from that of his two brothers, Pierre and Cosme, because he focuses more on a faithful representation of facial features and their psychological aspect. Very well preserved. Sold with a certificate