NORTHERN ITALIAN OR FRENCH, CIRCA 1560 | CAMEO WITH A PORTRAIT OF A LADY, POSSIBLY MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS

The cameo is one of a number that exist of elegantly costumed Renaissance women. The present example has evidently long been thought to represent Mary Queen of Scots since its circa 1700 mount is monogrammed: MS [for Mary Stuart].

Several similar cameos exist in major collections including a number in the Royal Collection, two of which have been identified as Mary Stuart (inv. nos. RCIN 65178 and RCIN 65198). It is nonetheless difficult to be sure of the identification of the sitters of any of these cameos. It is likely that they were copied from contemporary Italian medals and may well have been made in the Northern Italian courts. One of the cameos in the Royal Collection (inv. no. RCIN 65178) has at various times been identified as Margherita of Austria, Mary Stuart, Bianca Cappello and Margaret of France. At the present time all that can be said with certainty is that these cameos represent fashionable young women from Renaissance courts circa 1560. The costume is typical of this period. Compare with a bust attributed to Domenico Poggini (1520-1590) and said to represent Lucrezia Pucci Ridolfi (1540-1568) in the Bargello in Florence (inv. no. 82).

The identification should not be completely discounted though since there is certainly a resemblance to Mary Stuart. Compare, for example with her portrait by François Clouet in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. no. 625-1882). The present carving also resembles the more elaborate cameo with a young woman thought possibly to represent the young queen in the Cabinet des Medailles in Paris (inv. no. 975) which is illustrated in D. Scarisbrick, 'Treasured in Adversity: The Jewels of Mary Stuart-II,' Country Life, 10 June 1982, figs. 5 and 6. Given Mary's first marriage to the King of France it is not surprising that cameos would have been cut with her portrait. However, in the absence of documentary evidence the identification can only remain a hypothesis.

Mary Stuart was Queen of Scotland between 1542 and 1567 and briefly Queen Consort of France until the death of her first husband François II of France in 1560. After returning to Scotland she was implicated in the murder of her second husband Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and was forced to abdicate, fleeing to England. She was imprisoned by Elisabeth I and was executed at Fotheringhay Castle after being implicated in the Babington Plot.

RELATED LITERATURE

K. Aschengreen Piacenti and J. Boardman, Ancient and Modern Gems and Jewels in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, cat. Royal Collection, London, 2008, pp. 152-153, nos. 241-244