François I, Charles V and the Duchesse d'Étampes

In the winter of 1539 the emperor Charles V had to get from Spain to Ghent, where a revolt had broken out, and the quickest road ran through France. François I, who had once been his prisoner in Madrid, let him pass. Bonington took the scene from Brantôme, a courtier and chronicler of the French court. The king pointed out his mistress, Anne de Pisseleu, duchesse d'Étampes, and told the emperor that this beautiful lady wanted him kept in France until he tore up the treaty signed in Madrid. The answer came back that if the advice was good, it should be followed. Here the king leans toward the seated duchess, one hand held out to her, while Charles, in black, listens. The canvas is only 35 centimetres tall, and the king's face follows Titian's profile portrait of François, also in the Louvre.