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FRANÇOIS CLOUET (C. 1520-1572)
Hercule-François, Duke of Alençon and of Anjou (1555-84)
1561RCIN 403434
Hercule-François was the fourth and youngest son of Henry II of France and Catherine de Médicis. Marriage between him and Elizabeth I was proposed in 1572 and he courted the Queen again between 1579 and 1581. It is possible that this portrait, showing Hercule-François as a child and before he contracted smallpox, was sent over to England as part of the marriage negotiations.
