The Renaissance

plified the color and cut of clothing as
well, and in some regions banished color
altogether in favor of simple, unorna-
mented black or white. To modestly cover
the hair, women wore a variety of head-
dresses that harkened back to medieval
times, including the bonnet and the
wimple.

In southern Europe and Italy, the
classes remained more sharply differenti-
ated by their dress. At the height of fash-
ion were the nobility, who held luxurious
clothing as one of the bastions and sym-
bols of superiority over the lower classes.
But matching the nobility, especially in the
city of Venice, were the courtesans whose
business it was to cater to wealthy aristo-
crats and powerful men. Courtesans set
the fashion tone with lavish gowns, elabo-
rate headgear, glittering jewelry, alluring
makeup, and high-heeled shoes—making
them indistinguishable from the women
of the nobility. Eventually the Venetian au-
thorities took action and prohibited cour-
tesans from wearing precious gems, gold,
silver, silk, or necklaces and rings of any
kind.

Clouet, Francois ................................

(1515–1572)

French portrait painter and miniaturist,
born in Tours as the son of the artist Jean
Clouet. He learned painting from his fa-
ther and was brought to the court of King
Francis I at a young age. He followed in
his father’s footsteps by winning an ap-
pointment as the king’s court painter in
about 1540. After the death of the king, he
remained at the French court as the
painter of King Henry II, Francis II, and
Charles IX. He is best known for two por-
traits,Elizabeth of AustriaandThe Apoth-
ecarist Pierre Quthe,aswellasthework

known asLady in Her Bath, a work that

took the court and the art world by storm

and set off a rage for bath portraits that

remained a staple of the late Renaissance

and early Baroque periods. These three

works were the only paintings Clouet

signed. He also executed paintings of

Catherine de Médicis, Francis I, Mary

Queen of Scots, and Charles IX. Clouet

was a skilled draftsman and a painter with

a special ability to reveal the emotion and

character of his subjects in his works. His

fame spread widely among the nobility of

France and Clouet found his work in high

demand throughout his life.

SEEALSO: painting

Colleoni, Bartolomeo ........................

(1400–1475)

Italian mercenary born in Solza, northern

Italy. His father, Paolo Colleoni, was a lo-

cal nobleman who was killed by his own

cousins in a dispute over an estate. Barto-

lomeo trained as a soldier in the city of

Piacenza and then became a professional

soldier. He fought in southern Italy for Al-

fonso of Aragon, who was disputing the

throne of Naples with the Angevin dynasty.

He then joined the army of Venice, where

he quickly rose within the ranks. He led

the Venetian army to victories against the

city’s arch rival, Milan. After Venice and

Milan reached a truce, Colleoni entered

the service of Milan, where he was arrested

for suspected treason by the Visconti fam-

ily, the reigning lords of the city. He re-

turned to Venice, where he was made

captain-general of the army. Venice re-

warded him with profitable estates and

lands and, on his death, honored his

memory with an impressive statue of him-

self created by Andrea del Verrocchio that

still stands.

Colleoni, Bartolomeo