Gabrielle d’Estrées, a woman known more for her risque painting than of her life itself. Gabrielle was born around 1573, and daughter of Antoine d’Estrées, Baron de Boulonnois and Françoise de la Bourdaisieres. She was one of eleven children, seven of which were girls and gave them the moniker “seven deadly sins” by the Marquis de Sevigné.
Gabrielle mingled in the court of Henri III and where she met Roger de Bellegarde who was close with Henri III and Henri IV. One the occasion that Roger was meeting with Henri IV, Gabrielle was spotted at court and Henri was instantly obsessed. For six months he chased her and she resisted until she finally gave in.
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Henri IV did not hide his relationship or his love he had for Gabrielle, even in the midst of trying to get his marriage to Marguerite de Valois annulled. To keep her close at court he orchestrated a marriage between Gabrielle and Nicolas d’Amerval on June 8, 1592. To thank him for his role, Nicolas was given the title of Baron de Benais.
Henri was eager to end the marriage with Marguerite and to marry Gabrielle and asked Pope Clement VIII to dissolve his marriage. Clement had his own ideas and wanted Henri to marry his niece, Marie de Medici and was slow moving on giving Henri what he wanted.
Always by his side, Gabrielle was instrumental in helping to end the many religious conflicts and converting Henri to Catholocisim in 1593. However, she wasn’t loved by the people who called her the “duchess of garbage” and attacked her spending. Nonetheless, she sat next to Henri on his triumphant return to Paris later that same year. Henri had every intention to marry her and presented her with his coronation ring in front of the court.
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The union of Gabriele and Henri resulted in three children. Caesar in 1594, Catherine in 1596 and Alexandre in 1598. All three were legitimized in the eyes of the monarchy and the church as Henri’s children. In 1599 she became pregnant again. Each of her pregnancies were very easy, but this fourth was giving her a lot of issues. Sick everyday she struggled everyday for five months.
On April 6, 1599 she left Henri behind at Fontainebleau, it was just a few days before their wedding planned for April 11, Easter. She cried and sobbed and had to be pulled off of him, on what would be the last time she saw her love. On April 7 she dined with Sebastion Zamet, an Italian that had arrived in France with Catherine de Medici and was also close with Marie de Medici. That night at dinner when she said she wasn’t feeling well, Zamet gave her a frosted lemon. The next day she began having contractions and pains, she was only 5 months along.
The baby had already died and doctors tried to figure out what to do as she got worse. After a day her face and neck suddenly turned black leaving the doctors baffled. When word finally reached Henri at Fontainebleau he travelled to Paris as fast as he could but it would be too late. On April 10, at just 26 years old Gabrielle would die, the day before their intended wedding.
Distraught, Henri planned a lavish funeral at the Eglise Saint Germain l’Auxerrois fit for a queen. Henri dressed in black for months, shocking most as white was the normal color for royals in mourning. A lifelike effigy was created and placed in the room next to his where he would sit with her and eat his meals.
Gabrielle was buried at the Abbey de Maubuisson where her sister was a nun and her children stayed close to their father. Less than a year later Henri would marry Marie de Medici.
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A painting that is sure to always catch the visitor’s eye is the presumed portrait of Gabrielle d’Estrées and her sister the Duchess of Villars. There is still a lot that is unknown of this painting, including that of the subject and the artist. Attributed to the Fontainebleau School in 1594, it is believed to be Gabrielle and her sister, the Duchess of Villars who held her nipple between her fingers, which was a gesture symbolizing pregnancy. Gabrielle would have been five months pregnant with the future Duke of Vendome, Henri IV’s illegitimate son. In Gabrielle’s left hand, she holds a ring between her fingers, the coronation ring of Henri– a token of his love and loyalty. In the background sits a woman sewing, could it be baby clothes.
You can find this painting by following the snickering adults in the Richelieu wing on the 2nd floor in the salle Seconde École de Fontainebleau, room 824.