Portrait of Louise de Halluin, dame de Cipierre

In this portrait of a maid of honor to Catherine de’ Medici, wife of Henry II of France, the sitter wears a fashionable dress of the mid-1550s. Her jewelry—a gold chain around her narrow waist, a pearl necklace, and a band of pearls on her hood—harmonizes with the rich, yet restrained ornamentation of her dress and embroidered white chemise. Louise de Halluin was still an unmarried attendant of the queen when she sat for this portrait. Corneille de Lyon’s small, keenly observed portraits of courtiers have their own precious, jewel like quality and were well adapted to the itinerant lives of their owners, who accompanied the court as it moved from one palace to another.