Portrait Of Henry Iv, Attributed To François Quesnel, Paris, Ca. 1600, Oil On Wood, 17th-century Frame

Oil on oak panel
Dimensions: H. 56 cm, W. 49 cm
17th-century period frame in gilded wood with a frieze of leafy laurel leaves
Framed: H. 71 cm, w. 63 cm

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This rare painting we are presenting is part of a series of portraits ofHenry IV commissioned after the capture of Paris in1594, intended to establish the features of the new royal image. Depicted in court attire, far from the image of the sovereign as a warlord, Henry IV embodies here, in a solemn and composed manner, the figure of a king who is a peacemaker and reconciled with his kingdom.

He is portrayed in a bust view, turned slightly in a three-quarter profile. The sovereign appears in the early maturity of his reign, still with brown hair and beard, dressed in a rich black silk-slit doublet. He wears the wide blue ribbon of the Order of the Holy Spirit around his neck—of which he is Grand Master—as well as a white ruff with a single row of ruff tubes, embellished with a fine lace trim.
This portrait is characterized by a particularly refined and graphic style. The face retains a strong presence of the preparatory sketch: the hair, eyebrows, eyes, nose, mustache, and beard are precisely defined before being rendered in paint. The details of the costume and the ruff attest to a careful observation of court fashion at the end of the 16th century.
This close connection between drawing and painting is particularly characteristic of the practice of François Quesnel, who was both a draftsman and a painter. The finesse of the execution and the relationship between the preparatory drawing and the coloring—which bear a resemblance to the artist’s associated graphic works—thus justify the attribution of the work to François Quesnel.
This connection to Quesnel’s graphic models finds a particularly interesting extension in the drawing of Henry IV dated 1602, held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The structure of the face, the rendering of facial hair, and the way volume is brought out through the drawing show striking similarities to our painting.

Related works:
• François Quesnel, Portrait of Henry IV, 1602, drawing, black chalk and red chalk, h. 34, w. 23 cm, National Library of France
• François Quesnel, Portrait of Henry IV in coronation robes, c. 1594, lost work, known from an engraving by Thomas Leu (National Library of France)
• Attributed to François Quesnel, Portrait of Henry III, c. 1580, oil on panel, h. 45 cm, w. 33 cm, Musée Carnavalet, Paris, inv. P2270

François Quesnel (c. 1543, Edinburgh – 1619, Paris) was a French painter and draftsman active in Paris in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He distinguished himself particularly in portraiture, creating portraits of several members of the royal family and the court, including Henri III and Henri IV. His work as a draftsman, closely linked to his practice as a painter, played an important role in the development and dissemination of models for royal portraits.