436 THE BOOK OF THE PEARL
ornament.
This artistic combination is best shown in her portrait in the Uffizi,
Florence (No. 726), painted by an unknown artist.
One
of the most unique, rich, and chic collections of pearls, and one worn
with unusual grace, is that of the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia,
shown in the fine portrait of her by Coello Sanchez. In this portrait
her hat shows the plumes embroidered with slanting rows of three, four,
and five pearls. In the center of the hat is an ornament shaped like a
flower, with seven large pearl petals surrounding a great pearl center.
The hat is tilted to one side showing her hair on the left, while a
little to the right of the center of her forehead, and touching it,
there hangs from her hair a great pear-shaped pearl, which adds a
wonderful amount of character to the jeweling of her head. Around her
neck is a high fluted ruff ; below which is a collar of large gems
relieved by an ornament of two pearls placed between each gem. The same
interesting motive is carried out in a girdle of gems which comes down
very low to her waist, terminating in a large jeweled heart ornament.
The painting shows sixteen remarkable pearls in the collar, and
thirty-six pearls in the jeweled girdle.
A
very interesting collection of portraits was exhibited last spring
(1907) at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. The pictures are
contained, in some instances, in old illuminated manuscripts, while in
others they are contemporary crayon sketches. Many pearl decorations
are represented, and we give a few of the most important.
The
portrait of Anne de Bretagne (1476-1514), wife of Louis XII, from the
"Heures d'Anne de Bretagne," illuminated by Jean Bourdichon, represents
the queen kneeling; she wears a collar ornamented with groups of four
pearls alternating with precious stones.
A
crayon sketch of Françoise de Foix, Comtesse de Châteaubriant
(1490-1537), who became the mistress of Francis I, shows her wearing a
hood or coif ornamented with forty oval pearls. She also wears a
necklace of sixty fine round pearls.
Diane
de Poitiers (1499-1566), granddaughter of Charles VII and Agnes Sorel,
is represented with a headdress similar to that worn by the Comtesse de
Châteaubriant. It has a border of sixty round pearls. This crayon is of
the time of Jean Clouet.
A
portrait of Philip Strozzi (1541-1582) who, although an Italian, had
the rank of colonel-général in the French army, is interesting as an
illustration of the wearing of earrings by the men of this period. The
fine round pearl which hangs from his ear strikes us now as a curious
ornament for a warrior.
A
crayon sketch of Gabrielle d'Estrées (d. 1599), mistress of Henri IV,
is attributed to the hand of Daniel Dumonstier. Here may be seen a
splendid pearl necklace, which apparently consists of six sections,
each comprising three rows of eight round pearls, the sections being
connected with each other by a large oval pearl. The necklace, which
hangs down over the bosom, is fas-
