Smart Secrets of Great Paintings — Season 1, Episode 7: A Lady in Her Bath (1571) by Francois Clouet

Episode synopsis

"A Lady in Her Bath" (circa 1571), by Francois Clouet, bears witness to a period in which the pleasure of the senses and the spirit were caught up in religious conflict. It gave rise to the despotic canons of beauty. Official painter to Charles IX, Francois Clouet is considered the French master of portraiture. In this year 1571, he has just put the finishing touches to a canvas as beautiful as it is enigmatic: seated in her bathtub, half-naked, is a woman of Diaphanous beauty; behind her, a rough-featured nursemaid breastfeeds an infant; at the back of the room a servant is busy. A Fete Galante painting? Portrait? A Genre painting? This film examines the painting's composition and symbolism.

About Smart Secrets of Great Paintings

The great works of the past portray abundant testimonies, and are imbued with secrets and are teeming with mysteries. Beneath the surface of the painting, details awaken, to recount the spirit of the times and the vagaries of History, such as wars, revolutions, economic transformation, scientific discovery, beliefs and schools of thought.

More episodes from Season 1

• E1The Moneylender and his Wife (1514) by Quentin Massys
• E2The Artist's Studio (1855) by Gustave Courbet
• E3Bathers at Asniers (1884) by Georges Seurat
• E4Las Meninas (1665) by Diego Velazquez
• E5The Wedding at Cana (1563) by Paolo Veronese
• E6The Martyrdom of Saint Appolonia (1461) by Jean Fouquet
• E8Marie-Antoinette de Lorraine-Habsbourg, Queen of France and Her Children (1787) by Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun
• E9Women of Algiers in Their Apartment (1834) by Eugène Delacroix
• E10Colorful Life (1907) by Wassily Kandinsky
• E11Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? 1897, Paul Gauguin
• E12Temptations of St. Anthony, 1501, Hieronymus Bosch
• E13Western Port in Frankfurt am Main, 1916, Ludwig Kirchner