Quesnel, François

Quesnel, François (b Edinburgh, c.1545; d Paris, 1619).
The best-known member of a dynasty of French painters active in the 16th and 17th centuries. His father Pierre (d c.1574) worked at the Scottish court, but François spent his career in France. He was active in various fields, but mainly as a portraitist, carrying on the Clouet tradition into the 17th century. His work is known mainly through his polished drawings. Numerous paintings are attributed to him, but only one is securely identified as his by his monogram—Mary Ann Waltham (1572, Earl Spencer Coll., Althorp, Northamptonshire).