All of the paintings of Poppaea have been dated to the 1550s and attributed to the School of Fontainebleau. This loosely affiliated “school” consisted of artists working in and around the French court over the course of the 16th century. Having suffered a number of political and military setbacks, King Francis I (1494–1547) redirected his energies to France’s cultural enrichment, enlisting the Italian painters Rosso Fiorentino (1494–1540) and Francesco Primaticcio (1504/5–1570) to revitalize French art. In collaboration with local and Flemish artists, they developed a new style for the opulent Gallery of Francis I at the Château de Fontainebleau (fig. 1), which gives the School of Fontainebleau its name. The Gallery’s visual program is enacted through wall murals, decorative wood paneling and stucco reliefs that fool the eye with their lifelike simulations. Classicizing forms, motifs of agricultural bounty and, notably, a profusion of sensuous female nudes typify the Gallery.
The female body, as we shall see next, was a central motif in various other works associated with the School of Fontainebleau.
Figure 1: Francis I Gallery at the Château de Fontainebleau, Photo by: Frédéric Neupont (Wikimedia)