Home > Tudor Research > French Hood Images

Updates:

• Lots of new images from Early Forms to the 1550s.
• 12/05/11: Added
  • Portrait of an Unknown Lady, Detail
  • Louise de Rieux, Detail
  • Lady Jane Grey, Detail
  • Unknown English Lady, Detail
  • Portrait of Mary Tudor of England
  • Maria Regina, Detail
  • Miniature of Mary I, Detail
• 12/04/11: Added
  • Unknown Lady
  • Linen Cap
  • Details from Dymphnareeks 1, Dymphnareeks 3
  • Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne
  • ?Isabella, Queen of Denmark
  • Agniete van den Rijne, Detail
  • Portrait of a Lady
  • Anne de Pisseleu, Detail
  • Unknown English Lady, Detail
  • Portrait of a Lady in Fur, Detail
  • Unknown French Lady
• 12/10/10: Added Unknown Noblewoman; Detail.
• 2/03/09: Added many image links to 1590s and 1580s.

Here are images scanned from various books I own, and found on the Internet; some at the suggestion of others. I show them here by mostly chronological order if they are dated. They cover the whole sixteenth century while they were in fashion. However, definitions vary among researchers as to what exactly constitutes a 'French hood'. I leave that for you to decide in your own research. I will give a definition from one noted source:

"The French Hood (1530-1580, and unfashionably until 1630)
 
"This was a small hood made on a stiff foundation and worn far back. The front border, fitting close round the head, was curved forward on either side to end over the ears, the hair being exposed above this limit only. The back of the crown was raised into a horseshoe-shaped curve over the head.
 
"The curtain behind, of dark material, was arranged in formal pleats, or was merely a broad flap falling to the shoulders. It was often stiffened and turned up so as to lie flat on the top of the crown, with the straight edge projecting slightly over the forehead. Arranged thus, it was said to protect the complexion from the sun, and was known as a bongrace."
 
The bongrace was also a separate article, and there are English variations of the French hood. (HEC, 74)

All larger images are noted as to which book or Internet site they came from for copyright purposes. No copyright infringement is intended. These images are shown here as "fair use" for research and educational purposes.

Please be warned that the images are large in file size, and may take awhile to load. This is to provide better detail, especially for the enlarged close-up images.

Other Attributions:

ATC = Strong, Roy and Murrell, V.J.. Artists of the Tudor Court, The Portrait Miniature Rediscovered 1520-1620. 1983. The Victoria and Albert Museum. ISBN 0-905209-34-6.

HEC = Cunnington, C. Willett & Cunnington, Phillis. Handbook of English Costume in the 16th Century. 1970. Plays, Inc. ISBN 0-8238-0081-4.

This page last updated on Sunday February 26, 2012 .

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