A head study of Queen Henriette-Maria of France (1609-1669)

The Antwerp-born artist Frans Pourbus II established himself as a leading portraitist at the Habsburg court in Brussels and, later, the Gonzaga court in Mantua before ultimately settling in Paris in 1609 at the behest of the French queen, Marie de’ Medici (1575-1642). As court painter to the queen, he produced a significant number of portraits of the royal family, including the young Henrietta-Maria, the future Queen of England, and their entourage. This recently rediscovered painting offers a rare glimpse into Pourbus’ working process in the period.

Though previously attributed to artists in the circle of Anthonis Mor and Pourbus, in recent years Blaise Ducos has identified this small painting as a late autograph work by Pourbus, datable to circa 1621 (loc. cit.). Only one similar study by the artist is known today, a rapidly worked up sketch of three men's heads datable to 1614 and preparatory for a series of portraits installed in the grand salle of the Hôtel de Ville, Paris (Fondation Bemberg, Toulouse; see B. Ducos, op. cit., no. P.A.75). Like the sketch in Toulouse, here the young girl’s head is set against an undefined gray background. A handful of summary strokes of white in her hair serve to indicate what is probably a headdress set with pearls, while her face is rendered with the porcelain precision of Pourbus’ finished paintings. Indeed, her head comes particularly close to a fully realized portrait which is datable to circa 1620 and is today in the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid (see B. Ducos, op. cit., no. P.A.104). Ducos, however, suggests the present study may have served as a preparatory work for a lost portrait intended to be sent to Henrietta-Maria’s future husband, Charles (1600-1649), then Duke of York and the future King of England (loc. cit.).