How a Single Gesture Reveals This Painting’s Hidden Meaning

History encoded by a mystery artist

Gabrielle d’Estrées and One of Her Sisters (c.1594) attributed to the School of Fontainebleau. Oil on oak wood. 96 × 125 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris, France. Image source

It is hard not to be intrigued by a painting like this. It shows two women sitting unclothed in a bathtub. The one on the right is named Gabrielle d’Estrées, who is thought to be with her sister, who is unambiguously pinching her nipple.

Given their coiffured hair and sparkling pearl-drop earrings, it is fairly safe to say that they belong to the aristocracy — which is all the more reason to be surprised at their nude depiction.

This fascinating painting remains one of the most famous works of French art, and yet very little is known about its making: the artist behind the work can only be guessed at, and the commissioning patron is also a mystery.

As for its meaning, historians have long questioned its unorthodox gesture and have come to some surprising conclusions.

Gabrielle’s story

In this double portrait, both women are depicted from the waist up, their skin porcelain-toned. The modelling of their limbs and torsos is pronounced, with shading that softens their contours into an almost blurred effect.

They are sat inside a bathtub that is covered in a silk cloth. Bathtubs of old were typically made of metal or wood, and…