Portrait de femme

Jean Perréal's Portrait de femme in the Louvre is among the rare surviving works by the most celebrated French court portraitist of the late fifteenth century, a painter who worked for the French royal court, traveled to England to paint Margaret of Austria, and whose fame spread across northern Europe. Perréal — known in his time as Jean de Paris — was admired by contemporaries as the equal of Flemish masters in his ability to render the sitter's likeness with psychological penetration. This female portrait from 1493 is among the few panels that can be securely attributed to him, showing the refined, direct observation that made his reputation.

The female sitter appears in three-quarter view, her face carefully modeled with Flemish-influenced attention to skin texture and individual physiognomy. Perréal's handling of drapery and coiffure shows the French court taste for elegance. The background is typically neutral, focusing full attention on the face.