Unlike its perhaps initially sensual reading, this infamous painting has a much more symbolically-informed subject. Though it is unknown who painted it, who commissioned it, or why it was made, its creation in the late 16th century allows for a comparison to other paintings of the same time, suggestions its sitter is Gabrielle d’Estrées, a favorite mistress of French king Henry IV, on the right, and one of her sisters on the left. The painting is suspected to be a symbolic representation of d’Estrées’s new status as a mother, the gold ring in her left hand a reference to Henry IV’s promise of marriage after the birth of their illegitimate child.

Learn more about the work that inspired this pin HERE.