Daniel Maclise R.A. 1806-1870

The present work depicts the meeting of King Francis I of France and Diane de Poitiers, a courtesan who became one of the most influential women at the French court in the 16^th century.  When her father was arrested for treason, Diane requested an audience with the King to plead for his life.  In exchange for his pardon, Diane joined Francis’ court and was rumoured to be one of his mistresses before becoming the favourite of his son, Henry II. 

Maclise grew up in Cork, which was a flourishing intellectual centre during the early 19^th century.  In 1822 he began to study drawing at the Cork Institute, which had recently received the gift of a set of plaster casts made after the Vatican’s collection of antique sculpture.  Maclise’s early talents as a draughtsman attracted the attention of several notable patrons, who introduced him to local artistic and literary circles.  Maclise became a central figure in the early years of the Irish revival, and his interest in Irish subject matter and iconography persisted throughout his career.  In 1828 he entered the Royal Academy in London and remained active in England as one of the most popular artists of the mid-Victorian period.  He is perhaps best known today for his mural commission for the Houses of Lords (1844-45) and his giant frescos of The Meeting of Wellington and Blücher and The Death of Nelson in the Royal Gallery of the Palace of Westminster (1857-65).

Maclise developed his particular style of historical narrative painting evident in the present work during his years at the Royal Academy, where he won the gold medal for history painting in 1831.  In other works of the 1830s, such as Charles I, King of England and his Children, before Oliver Cromwell (1836; Coll. National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin), Maclise combines elements of traditional 18^th-century British history painting with the contemporary interest in 17^th-century Dutch and Flemish genre painting.  The strong composition and dramatic characterization of the present work also reflect Maclise’s lifelong interest in the theatre.