A Wife, a Mistress. and a Queen Walk into a Château...

This is a story of three women and a castel. More specifically, a château. A beautiful château that sits astride the Cher river in the Loire Valley near the small village of Chenonceau.

The first structures that stood on the property were a mill house and a small medieval castle from the 11th century. In 1513, Thomas Bohier, chamberlain of the king of France, determined to acquire the property, raze the existing buildings, and in their place create a Renaissance château.

Yule decoration at Château de Chenonceau 

Here is when we get introduced to the first woman in the château's history - Katherine Briçonnet. Katherine was Thomas's wife, and as it turns out, the designer of the château. Thomas was called away to war, so Thomas had to spend time away from the property;  Katherine assumed control of the project.

One of Katherines most significant contributions to Château de Chenonceau was the building of a staircase which proceeds straight upwards. Most staircases of this time were spiral or curved and apparently Katherine was looking to create something more practical.

 Sadly, Thomas and Katherine didn't get to spend much time enjoying the château. Both had passed away by 1526 and their son Thomas inherited the château. King Francois I became the owner of the château when Thomas had to give it away because of his debts.

Château de Chenonceau in Winter

On the death of King Francois I, his son and heir, Henry II became the owner. Henry decided to give the castle as a gift  to his mistress, the noblewoman Diane de Poitiers. Diane was delighted with the château and decided to add to it.

Diane contributed what is foundation for most iconic part of the château --  the magnificent arched bridge across the river. She also had the formal garden added to the property. Diane's time at the Château de Chenonceau came to an end with the death of Henry. Henry II’s widow Catherine de Medici, the Queen of France, had taken a fancy to Château de Chenonceau and wanted it for herself. Catherine knew that Diane was the owner, but was able to 'encourage' an exchange of castles. Catherine de Medici took Château de Chenonceau, while Chaumont Castle was given to Diane de Poitiers.

Château de Chenonceau, Bâtiment-des-Dômes

Château de Chenonceau quickly became Catherines favorite residence. She also added to the château, by constructing the two-story gallery known as the Bâtiment-des-Dômes over the arched bridge Diane had built. Catherine used the château to entertain members of European royal families and representatives of the aristocracy.

In 1560, Château de Chenonceau became the site for the wedding of Catherine's son Francis II and Mary Queen of Scots. Later that same year, when Francis was proclaimed King, the first fireworks in France were witnessed at the castle, during the celebration.

Still Life Pioneer

A still life (also known by its French title, nature morte) painting is a piece that features an arrangement of inanimate objects as its subject. Usually, these items are set on a table and often include organic objects like fruit and flowers and household items like glassware and textiles.

Fed Galizia, Still Life of Cherries in a Bowl

"The term “still life” is derived from the Dutch word stilleven, which gained prominence during the 16th century. While it was during this time that the still life gained recognition as a genre, its roots date back to ancient times." (Kelly Richman-Abdou writing for My Modern Met).

Hummm...from this definition we might conclude that the Dutch invented the genre of still life paintings. And, in fact, many art history books would support that theory. However, by the very narrow definition above, we see that some Egyptian tomb paintings and Greek and Roman mosaics could be classified as still life art.

Paolo Morigia, Fede Galizia

So, still life paintings have been around for a while, but what and who caused the shift from background and ornamentation to being the focus of the painting. I believe the major shift came about in the late 16th century. It was during this time that the objects in still life paintings took center stage, and not a merely supporting role. And, while significant still life paintings come out of the low countries, it is, in fact a 16th century Italian artist that paved the way.

Fede Galizia was born in Milan most likely sometime before 1578 to the miniaturist, Nunzio Galizia. Fede learned to paint from him and by the age of 12 she was gaining significant reputation as an artist. One of Fede's earliest patrons was Jesuit scholar and historian Paolo Morigia. In a collection of short biographies published in 1595 he wrote that Fede showed signs of "becoming a truly noble painter." She painted multiple portraits of Paolo and he declared her paintings "of such excellence, and such a good likeness, that one could not desire anything more."

The images in Fede's portraits are realistic and detailed - just look at the jewelry and the fabric in Judith with the Head of Holofernes. Her portraits show a trend towards naturalism away from the humanism of earlier centuries. Her subjects seem very real, and their stories are told with each brush stroke.

Judith with the Head of Holofernes, Fede Galizia

As important as her portraits were, Fede's still life works were groundbreaking. Her cherries (above) look ripe and juicy. Her peaches were velvety, her flowers featured petals that appeared soft. She kept the backgrounds fairly indiscriminate, so as to focus the viewer on the subject. The fruits and flowers in these still lifes are tactile, swelling with flavor and fragrance.

Not much is known of Fede's personal life. She moved between Italy, Greece, and Spain always looking for sources of inspiration. Fede never married and it is said that she died during the plague that hit Milan in 1630.

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Select Sources

Galer, Sophia Smith. Ten female artists you should know about.

Labedzki, Annette.  Fede Galizia - An Italian Renaissance Artist of Still Life, Portraiture and Miniature Merit

Librizzi, Jane. Now They Tell Us: Fede Galizia's Delicious Still Life

Calligraphy, Embroidery and ....Spying!?!?

I have to admit that this weeks artist intrigues me for a lot of reasons. Most of our subjects have been Italian with some Germans and French thrown in for seasoning. Also, our artists from earlier blogs tended to be illuminators, with more recent subjects being portrait artists. And, almost to a person, they have all earned their keep from their art. We will diverge from those patterns this week with Esther Inglis Kello.

Ester Inglis, Unknown

Ester was born in England in 1571 to French Huguenot parents. She was the daughter of Nicholas Langlois and his wife, Marie Presot, who migrated to London in about 1569 and to Scotland by 1574. Marie taught Ester calligraphy as a young child.  In about 1596 Ester married Scotsman Bartholomew Kello, a minister and sometimes clerk for Queen Elizabeth. Bartholomew was apparently well educated and would write Latin verses that praised his wife.

Artwork

Ester was a highly skilled calligrapher, some writers have described it as extra-ordinary. She mastered the usual styles of the time along with most of the ornamental styles, including lettera mancina (mirror writing), lettere piacevolle (with curling terminals to ascenders and descenders), lettre pattee with triangular serifs, the trembling line known as lettera rognosa, and lettera tagliata where each line is broken horizontally to give a continuous white line through the letters.

        

Margaret Macaulay writes the following regarding Esters work: "(she) could work to the minutest scale, fitting eight lines into a vertical measurement of only 18mm, and averaging 23 words to a four-inch line. Metal pens were at an experimental stage, so that goose pens, with crow quills for finer work, were mainly used. The description of Esther as ‘Mistresse of the Golden Pen’ is complimentary only. Gold pens were awarded as prizes for major writing competitions."

Esters skill didn't end with the written word. She illuminated the pages, sometimes adding tiny self-portraits. She also embroidered the covers for her books. The books were small -- ranging from about 5.5 inches X 6.5 inches to the smallest at 1.25 x 1.75 inches. She was prolific - there are currently 50 of her books surviving.

Career

There are few records of Ester receiving any payment for these works. What is apparent is that they were used as gifts to curry favor with the Court. It also appears that, from time to time they were created and presented with the hope of receiving a payment. Many of her little books are dedicated to members of the Protestant circles in England and Europe, including Elizabeth I; James VI and I; Prince Henry; Prince Charles; Lucy Harington, Countess of Bedford; Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury; Sir Anthony Bacon; Prince Maurice of Nassau; Catherine de Parthenay, Duchess of Rohan; and Catherine de Bourbon, sister of Henri IV. It must have been difficult for Ester to spend that much time and effort on a book then turn it over with no assurance of receiving any compensation.

Ester also used her calligraphic skills to assist her husband in his position as Clerk of Passports. She made copies of documents and wrote foreign correspondence. This is where it gets interesting. Some of her small books appear to have supported his involvement with the secret negotiations for the succession of James VI to the English throne.  Some scholars of the era go so far as to suggest that Bartholomew used these little gift books as pretext to travel abroad as a spy.

Hummm...exquisite calligrapher, amazing miniaturist, incredible embroiderist, and political reformer...pretty badass, I think!

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Selected Sources

Campbell, Julie D. and Anne R. Larsen, Editors. Early Modern Women and Transnational Communities of Letters
Carney, Jo Eldridge. Renaissance and Reformation, 1500-1620: A Biographical DictionaryMacaulay, Margaret. Mistresse of the Golden Pen.  http://textualities.net/margaret-macaulay/mistresse-of-the-golden-pen