Guy XVII, Comte de Laval

François Clouet's portrait of Guy XVII, Comte de Laval, painted around 1540, exemplifies the refined court portraiture of the French Renaissance. Clouet succeeded his father Jean as court painter to the French kings and created the definitive visual record of the Valois court. Oil on canvas — by the sixteenth century the dominant medium for ambitious works — allowed successive glazes of transparent color and freedom to rework the composition.

Clouet's characteristic combination of precise, almost enamel-like facial rendering with subtly modeled costume creates a portrait that balances French elegance with penetrating psychological observation.