Portrait of François I as Saint John the Baptist

The panel dates itself. An inscription painted on it names Francis, first of that name, king of France, aged 23. He was born in September 1494, which puts the sitting in 1517 or 1518, and the frame carries the year 1518. The Louvre itself commits only to the 16th century.

The young king, three years into his reign, is dressed as John the Baptist, in the saint's panther skin with a pink cloth over it. His right hand holds a reed cross and the lamb lying across his knees, and above his shoulder perches a green parakeet, a bird long linked with emperors and with eloquence. It is an unusual way to show a reigning king.

For much of the 19th century the panel was sold in London as a Leonardo, the painter Francis had brought to live near him at Amboise. It came to the Louvre as a gift from Alec and Guy Wildenstein in 2005, given by the museum, with a question mark, to Jean Clouet.