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35 Queen Artemisia preparing to swallow the ashes of her husband Mausolus (?)

King Francis I of France (r. 1515–1547), who laid the foundations for French Renaissance culture, invited two Italian artists, Rosso Fiorentino and Francesco Primaticcio, to decorate the Château de Fontainebleau. They came to be known as leading figures of the First School of Fontainebleau. During the reign of Francis’s son Henry II (r. 1547–1559), Niccolò dell’Abate was summoned to France from Italy. This work is thought to have been painted by dell’Abate based on a design by Primaticcio. The woman’s slightly elongated proportions and exaggerated yet graceful hand gestures are characteristics often seen in the work of the School of Fontainebleau. Because she holds a cup, she has been connected to several women from mythology and ancient history. One of these is Artemisia, wife of Mausolus, the fourth-century BCE ruler of Caria (in modern-day southwestern Turkey). She is said to have been so devoted to her husband that, after his death, she consumed his ashes by mixing them with wine.