Things you didn't know about the scandalous portrait of Gabriel Destra

Anyone who enters the Louvre Museum cannot ignore this sensual work. People react to the work in different ways: some look on in amazement, some laugh, or take pictures in a pose that imitates the lady's pinch and surely wonder who the two women are who agreed to be painted naked in a bathtub and what exactly are they doing?

Even in today's perception, the work seems quite provocative and it is easy to think that this is a pornographic painting, but in fact, Gabrielle d'Estrada is depicted here, who was the mistress, confidante and advisor of King Henry IV. France, with one of her sisters. Gabrielle d'Estrada was one of the most beautiful women of her time, the most beloved by King Henry IV and the most hated by the French.

Brief historical background

You can read about the story of her tragic life and death here. In this article Therefore, I will not repeat what is written there, but will only add a few more piquant biographical details.

• She was born in 1573, into a family of some questionable women: some nuns, some married, but all considered extremely delightful in bed. Gabrielle’s mother ran away with her lover when her children were young, one of her sisters, who was a nun, was expelled from the convent after giving birth to 12 children by different fathers, and another sister, Julienne, the future Duchess of Villars, who is pictured here with her in the bath, sat bare-chested under a stage where a monk she liked was giving a speech. No wonder the family was nicknamed “the family of the seven sins.”
• At first, Gabrielle was not attracted to the king and continued her affair with the stablemaster, but the king fell desperately in love with her, and because he feared that Gabrielle would marry her lover, he married her off to an impotent and disciplined courtier (Nicolas Damerval de Liancourt).
• Gabrielle d'Estrada was the one who convinced the King of France to become Catholic in order to stop the Wars of Religion in France, thus helping to end the civil war between Catholics and Protestants.
• Everyone opposed the marriage between Gabrielle d’Estrada and King Henry IV, whom the Pope himself described as “a stain on the honor of France,” and the people of France feared the day they would have to enthrone a bastard. This greatly increases the possibility that she did not die a natural death but was poisoned.

The reincarnation of the portrait of Gabriel Destra

The unfortunate Henri probably wanted to document his most beloved mistress, and indeed several versions are known in which Gabrielle d'Estrada is immortalized. This version is the most modest: Gabrielle and her sister are sitting dressed in a bathtub. Gabrielle is shown from the front, looking modestly away, but her hand is close to her chest, a hint of her fertility, while her sister is depicted from the back, her gaze directed directly at the viewer. Behind her is a wet nurse nursing one of Gabrielle and Henri's bastard children.

The next version is more daring: Gabrielle is again looking to the side and her sister is looking directly at the viewer, but this time they are both naked, and it is unclear whether Gabrielle is putting the ring on her sister or taking it from her hands.

The third version is the boldest of all because in today's modern thinking it brings up some particularly impure thoughts in our minds.

In this painting, too, we see Gabrielle d'Astra and one of her sisters sitting in a bathtub covered with a white cloth so that they don't get cold from the cold marble. This time, too, a red silk cloth hangs behind them, framing them, creating a wrinkled partition that could enter the bathroom. The women look at us with a cold and slightly condescending gaze, not bothering them at all that we are watching them naked in the bathtub and, in a very provocative way, the Duchess of Villars holds her fingers on the nipple of her sister Gabrielle d'Astra. This pose is intended to ensure that we turn our gaze to Gabrielle.

If in our time the pose seems rather strange, and evokes in our imagination a lesbian relationship between the two ladies, to Gabrielle's contemporaries it was meant to hint at something completely different – ​​the pinching of the nipple was meant to symbolize that Gabrielle was pregnant. As mentioned, at the time the painting was made Gabrielle had already given birth to Henri two sons and a daughter and was expecting a fourth child, this fertility being one of the reasons that endeared her to the king. Gabrielle is holding in her hand the ring that France gave to Henri at the coronation ceremony of France. Henri gave her the ring as a gift when she became pregnant as an engagement ring, thereby confirming his great love for her and his intention to make her his legal wife and queen.
In the back plane is a dark room in which sits a woman in a red, embroidered dress, perhaps a midwife sewing a gift for the baby, or perhaps a witch unraveling Gabriel's thread of life. Above the maid is a dark mirror, next to it is a table covered in green velvet, Gabriel's favorite color, the table resembling a coffin in shape. The coffin and the mirror symbolize Gabriel's untimely death at the age of only 26. Another item that hints at Gabriel's bitter fate is the fireplace in which there is only a faint flicker of what was intended to symbolize the fire of life.

Above the fireplace, a fragmentary painting of a man's exposed lower body is a hint at the immoral behavior of Gabrielle and the king. The French were convinced that this relationship was the cause of Gabrielle's death.

At that time, it was believed that witchcraft was the result of carnal lust, and that a witch could be identified by someone with a distorted face and rolling eyes, according to rumors that Gabrielle looked like this at the time of her death. With such an interpretation, it is not surprising that the paintings are not signed, so to this day we do not know who made them. What is certain is that even today the painting attracts a lot of attention and receives countless variations in paintings, advertisements, music and television series, and here are some examples.

So next time you come to the Louvre, look for the painting on the second floor of the Richelieu Wing in room number 10 and continue to revel in the two infamous ladies.