Ode to the Pinching D’Estrées Sisters Shot in 2011 in Amsterdam Inspired by an anonymous artist of the Fontainebleau School’s Presumed Portrait of Gabrielle d’Estrées and Her Sister, the Duchess of Villars, circa 1594 Collection of the Louvre, Paris One of the ways to challenge stereotypes is to take iconic images and change them a bit. This portrait of Gabrielle d’Estrées and her sister, a work that has been a favorite at the Louvre for years, does not need a lot of changing to stir questions in the viewer’s mind. The artist who created this work is unknown, however it is clearly from the Fontainebleau School as the women are depicted in their bathtub, an obvious allusion to the theme of Venus, the Goddess of love. This type of portrait was fashionable in aristocratic circles and most found the subject matter pleasing as it usually shared an intimate view of the daily life of the sitters. However this intimate view is anything but ordinary and that is precisely what drew us to remake this piece. One of the subtle changes that we made is to have the woman who is sewing in the background look directly at the viewer, which a servant would have never done in the late 1500’s. Gabrielle d’ Estrées was one of Henry IV’s favorite mistresses. She was pregnant with his son when this work was painted and hence the pinch of her nipple refers to the child, which will soon drink the mother’s milk. Yet, without the knowledge of the original, the viewer wonders what is going on. And so the questioning begins, which at the end of the day we hope will lead to a discussion of the effects of stereotypes. * Ode to the Pinching D’Estrées Sisters was in the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag’s Summer Exhibition in 2012
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