MASTER of the Fontainebleau School
(second half of the 16th century)

Diana at the Bath

c. 1590
Oil on wood, 105 x 76 cm
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon

This canvas depicting a nude young woman adorning herself before her mirror is a typical example of a group of paintings produced by the school of Fontainebleau, almost all anonymous, representing either Diana, or A Lady at Her Toilette and all featuring half-length figures. This pose, new to France at the time, inspired by the Mona Lisa and other Italian portraits, seems to have had particular appeal for French Renaissance painters.