Henri IV, King of France, attributed to François Quesnel, Paris circa 1600

Portrait of Henri IV, King of France and Navarre (1553, Pau – 1610, Paris)
Attributed to François Quesnel (c. 1543–1619)
Paris, circa 1600

Oil on oak panel
Dimensions: H. 56 cm; W. 49 cm
17th-century period frame in giltwood, decorated with a frieze of leafy laurel
Framed dimensions: H. 71 cm; W. 63 cm

This rare painting belongs to a series of portraits of Henri IV established after the capture of Paris in 1594, intended to establish the features of the king’s new official image. Depicted in court dress, rather than as a military leader, Henri IV embodies here, in a solemn and composed pose, the figure of a peacemaking king reconciled with his kingdom.

He is portrayed in bust-length, turned slightly three-quarters to the viewer. The king appears in the early maturity of his reign, with his hair and beard still dark, wearing a richly decorated black silk doublet with slashed detailing. Around his neck he wears the broad blue sash of the Order of the Holy Spirit, of which he was Grand Master, together with a white pleated ruff edged with a fine lace trim.

The portrait is distinguished by its particularly refined and graphic execution. The face retains a strong presence of the preparatory drawing: the hair, eyebrows, eyes, nose, moustache and beard are precisely defined before being modelled in paint. The details of the costume and ruff demonstrate close attention to late-sixteenth-century court fashion.

This close articulation between drawing and painting is particularly characteristic of François Quesnel’s practice as both draughtsman and painter. The refinement of the execution and the relationship between the preparatory drawing and the application of colour, considered alongside graphic models associated with the artist, fully support the attribution of the work to François Quesnel.

This relationship with Quesnel’s graphic models finds a particularly interesting parallel in the drawing of Henri IV dated 1602, preserved in the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The structure of the face, the treatment of the facial hair and the manner in which volume is conveyed through drawing show notable correspondences with the present painting.

Related works:

• François Quesnel, Portrait of Henri IV, 1602, black and red chalk, H. 34 cm; W. 23 cm, Bibliothèque nationale de France

• François Quesnel, Portrait of Henri IV in Coronation Attire, c. 1594, lost, known through an engraving by Thomas Leu, Bibliothèque nationale de France

• Attributed to François Quesnel, Portrait of Henri 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 draughtsman active in Paris in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. He is particularly known for his portraiture, producing likenesses of members of the royal family and court, including Henri III and Henri IV. His activity as a draughtsman, closely connected to his work as a painter, played an important role in the development of royal portrait models.