Lady in Her Bath

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The Renaissance began in the late 15th century and spanned from Italy throughout Europe. It was the rebirth of everything ranging from the economy to art. Francois Clouet was a painter to the Kings and his work “Lady in Her Bath” embraced the new form of artistic expression. In this paper I am going to explain how the “Lady in Her Bath” painting reflects the culture and ideology of the renaissance Era as well as explain some of the values, influences, themes, and techniques used. I will also provide information about the social, political and religious history of the renaissance Era that influenced its art and artists. The Lady in her bath was painted in 1571 and is said to be the most interesting painting by Clouet, he is also said to be the first ever artist to use the bath as a setting for a portrait (Answer.com). The painting has all the classical signs of renaissance art, and is secular in theme and emphasizes the grandeur of the individual. Clouet’s painting shows the Culture and ideology by showing how wealthy the woman was and that she must have come from a wealthy family. It was said at one time that the painting of the woman in this picture was one of the mistresses of Henry II but that has been ruled out now. She is wearing what looks to be a couple of expensive pieces of jewelry, which in the Renaissance Era it wasn’t normal for individuals to wear jewelry because most of the people were too poor to buy things that weren’t a necessity to support themselves or their families. Another sign that the woman must be wealthy or from a wealthy family is that she has a fresh bowl of fruit sitting next to her while she is bathing. To the poor baths were to clean themselves up not to relax in. Some of the techniques Clouet continued to use were the conventions of the international portrait style which was prevalent throughout the courts of Europe. These

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