This oil on board is a fairly typical work by the artist, also known as Corneille de La Haye, after his birthplace, or Claude Corneille. Though born in The Hague, he settled in Lyon (France) around 1534 where he worked as painter to Henry I, Henry II and Charles IX. In 1547, Corneille de Lyon was granted French citizenship in gratitude for his services to the Crown. Together with the French Mannerist painters Jean Clouet (ca. 1485-1540/41), thought to be of Dutch origin, and his son François Clouet (1510-1572), who worked in the School of Fontainebleau, Corneille was one of the founders of the French portrait school.

Though his refined technique is grounded in the tradition of miniature portraiture, from which he borrowed the lively colouring and the short brushstroke that enabled a meticulous rendering of details, he progressed from that Northern tradition towards a more naturalistic style.

An inscription reading “ANNO-1535 ÆTATIS-SVÆ 25” is perfectly legible in the background of the painting. There is some speculation that this piece may be a self-portrait and, in fact, it entered the collection as such. While there is no documentary evidence to support this hypothesis, in 1535 Corneille would indeed have been around the age of twenty five given that his birth has been dated in 1510.