03 — ARTWORK
A Lady in Her Bath
- MEDIUM
- Oil on wood, 92 x 81 cm
- TYPE
- Portrait
PALETTE
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- FILE
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COMMENTARY
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A Lady in Her Bath c. 1571 Oil on wood, 92 x 81 cm National Galleryan upper story, similar to a tribune, running along the side of a building and open on one side to the interior; in a church (basilica) above the side aisles, over the ambulatory (central-plan building) and also over the west end. The gallery was used to keep certain groups of worshippers apart (women, noblemen). of Art, Washington
Only two signed paintings by François Clouet are known to exist, of which this, generally regarded as one of the great masterpieces of the French Renaissance art, is one. The subject, shown seated in her bath, traditionally was believed to be the famous beauty, Diane de Poitiers (1499-1566), a favourite of Henry II and virtual ruler of France. However, this identification is now rejected, and the dating, placed either in the 1550s or around 1571 is debated. Diane do Poitiers. Other candidates for the identity of the sitter are Mary Stuart (Mary, Queen of Scots) and Marie Touchet, mistress to Charles IX.
This is the classic portrayal of a Royal mistress in her official role, cool, beautiful, aloof, bejewelled even in her bath, accompanied by the strappings of her state: fine rooms, a noble child in the arms of its leering, accomplice-nurse, the sly Love-child stealing the fruits, the flower of passionThe events leading up to Good Friday, beginning with Christ's arrest and ending with his burial. Portrayals of the Passion, which focus on the Suffering Christ, include depictions of Judas betraying Christ with a kiss, Peter cutting off Malchus's ear, the crown of thorns, and so on. in her hand.
Regarding the several influences, Titian's influence has been cited. The motif of the servant in the background performing a domestic chore is seen as deriving from the <a onclick="return OpenOther('/html/t/tiziano/08/08urbin.html')" href="/html/t/tiziano/08/08urbin.html">Venus of Urbino.</a> The painting also shows affinities to the highly polished surfaces and icy eroticism of <a onclick="return OpenOther('/html/b/bronzino/4/venus_en.html')" href="/html/b/bronzino/4/venus_en.html">Bronzino.</a> The pose of the woman in the bathtub was derived from a composition by Leonardo, known as the Monna Vanna (now lost)
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
@online{wga-r1148e7b2ced320,
author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {A Lady in Her Bath by CLOUET, François},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-13},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/clouet-franois-rd8e2edec349097/a-lady-in-her-bath-r1148e7b2ced320},
urldate = {2026-09-13},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-13. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.
