The Meeting

For this painting I used watercolour and gouache. It was inspired by a visit to Chateau Chanonceaux in the Loire Valley in France. I remember it as a very white, delicate building which almost appeared to float on the river as if in a dream.
A few months after I painted it, I recall reading the lively histories of some of the former inhabitants. What I discovered about Louise de Lorraine spooked me. She was married to a King Henry 111. Her appearance was described as blonde and painfuly thin in stature. After her husband was dramaticaly murdered by a monk (nothing as boring as a heart- attack) she spent the remainder of her grief-stricken life, wandering round the chateau and gardens dressed only in white.