Gabrielle d’Estrees and his sisters after Anonymous

Direct heir to the French Renaissance and its very particular refinement, this intriguing image pushes the strangeness of its model to the extreme. The artwork constitutes a vertiginous surreal pastiche of the famous portrait “Gabrielle d’Estrées et ses sœurs”, historically attributed to an Anonymous creator of the School of Fontainebleau. The founding painting was immediately distinguished by its glacial eroticism and enigmatic allegorical gestures. The troubling demultiplication of ghostly limbs metamorphoses this intimate bath scene into a true absurd choreography.

While the general framework remains faithful to the original with these two porcelain-complexioned women standing in a bathtub draped in gray silk, numerous disembodied hands now invade the space. Instead of the single symbolic breast pinch, a multitude of appendages emerge from the darkness to interact with the protagonists, touching a shoulder, caressing a face or delicately adjusting a piece of jewelry. The impassive faces and cold stares of the sisters remain imperturbable in the face of this fantastic tactile harassment. Heavy crimson velvet curtains still frame the action, while in the background, the servant dressed in red continues to embroider peacefully near the large fireplace.

The meticulous care given to the smooth and pearly modeling of the bodies illustrates a perfect understanding of Mannerist aesthetics. The anatomically flawless integration of the additional arms reveals a sharp mastery of foreshortening and dramatic directional lighting. This great plastic rigor undeniably sublimates the mystical dimension of the whole.