Marc Duval

Marc Duval or Du Val (c. 1530 – 13 September 1581) was a French court painter and printmaker, most notable for his portraits of leaders of the Huguenot faction and as the probable painter of works previously attributed to the "Master of the Portrait of Sébastien de Luxembourg, Viscount of Martigues". For a time he was considered one of France's best draughtsmen and engravers. He worked at the court of the last kings of the Valois dynasty and produced highly valued portraits of them and other nobility in Paris, dying in that city on 13 September 1581, a date he had himself predicted. He was married to Catherine, though her maiden name is unknown, and their daughter remained in Paris and was a talented artist.

Biography Born in Saint-Vincent near Le Mans, his life is mainly known from references to him by his contemporary François Grude, Senor La Croix du Maine. Grudemade his notes three years after the artist's death, but some of his information is now known to be incorrect. but that reference to a Bertrand in documents in 1562 is now not believed to be Duval but his father, whom Grude mistook for his son, with Marc Duval never bearing that nickname. A Duval family tree produced in 1760 calls Bertrand "painter and sculptor to Francis I" and Marc "painter to Henry II". Karel Van Mander also mentions an artist in the court of the Queen Mother from Paris named "Marco" as teaching Bartholomeus Spranger drawing in 1565. 1579 portraits of Jeanne III d'Albret and Catherine de Medici, probably belonging to the same series and both mentioned by Grude, are also attributed to him.

Some researchers attribute other paintings and prints to him, including the Italian-style one of a blind flautist (1566, Louvre ) and individual portraits from the studio of François Clouet such as those of Jean Babou de La Bourdesière (Louvre), admiral Coligny (Musée Condé) Jacques, Duke of Nemours (Musée Condé) and Sébastien, Viscount of Luxembourg-Mortigue (Bemberg Foundation, Toulouse), Dimier also attributed a sketch of Coligny's head to him. In 1970 Jean Adhémar curated the largest-ever exhibition of 16th century French drawings from the prints collection of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, re-attributing thirteen works to the "Master of the Portrait of Sébastien de Luxembourg, Viscount of Martigues", mostly previously attributed to Clouet or his studio.

Gallery of possible attributions