Marie de Médicis

1616

Frans Pourbus the Younger (Flemish, 1569-1622)

Though Frans Pourbus the Younger descended from a dynasty of portrait painters in the Spanish Netherlands, he, like Antonis Mor, served courts across Europe, including those in Brussels, Mantua, and Paris. This likeness of Marie de’ Medici, queen mother of Louis XIII of France, was executed six years after she appointed Pourbus her personal portraitist. His meticulous depiction of her elaborate garments effectively conveys a variety of textures, details, and patterns within a restricted color palette.

Status: On View, Gallery 208
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist: Frans Pourbus, the Younger
Title: Marie de Médicis
Place: Flanders (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1616
Medium: Oil on canvas
Inscriptions: Inscribed upper right: F.PVRBIS / CRISTIANISS. / MA: PICTOR . FACIEBAT . AN / 1616
Dimensions: 99.7 × 77.5 cm (39 1/4 × 30 1/2 in.); Framed: 140.3 × 119.4 × 10.2 cm (55 1/4 × 47 × 4 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Kate S. Buckingham
Reference Number: 1920.1034
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/78591/manifest.json

Armand Baschet, “François Porbus, peintre de portraits à la cour de Mantoue,” Gazette des Beaux-Arts, pér. 1, 25 (1868), p. 455.
L[udwig] Burchard, “Pourbus, Frans, d. J.” in Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, ed. Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker, vol. 27, Leipzig, 1933, p. 317.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago. A Catalogue of the Picture Collection, Chicago, 1961, p. 360.
John Maxon, The Art Institute of Chicago, London, 1970, pp. 257, ill., 285.
Blaise Ducos, Frans Pourbus le Jeune (1569-1622). Le portrait d’apparat à l’aube du Grand Siècle entre Habsbourg, Médicis et Bourbons, Dijon, 2011, pp. 108, 132, 137, 140, 260-261, 262, 265, 355, n. 209, no. P.A. 88.

Art Institute of Chicago, The Art of the Edge: European Frames 1300-1900, 17 October - 14 December 1986, no. 19.

Possibly Venetian private collection [according to Baschet 1868, paintings of Marie de Médicis, Louis XIII, and Anne of Austria [sic] hanging together in the hôtel of Princesse Mathilde were acquired in Venice from a patrician family whose ancestors included ambassadors to France; the other two are now in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Karlsruhe; Ducos P.A. 82 and 83]; Princesse Mathilde Bonaparte, Paris, by 1868, died 1904; sold Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, 17-21 May, 1904, no. 14. M. de Saint Alary, Paris [according to report on the Buckingham Collection, Art Institute Archives]. O’Brien & Son, Chicago [Buckingham report cited above]. Kate Buckingham, Chicago, by 1920, when lent to the Art Institute; accepted as a gift, 1932 [receipt 3053 and other documentation in curatorial file].

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Suggested Terms

See all hours

On View

Date:

Artist:

About this artwork

Status

Department

Artist

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Inscriptions

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

Extended information about this artwork

Publication History

Exhibition History

Provenance

Share

Explore Further

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Gallery actions

Image actions

Share

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.