Painting of the Month

'The Ambassadors': Georges de Selve

Georges de Selve, resplendent in his sombre but luxurious robe of damask trimmed with fur, is in his twenty-fifth year, according to the inscription on the book under his arm. As a teenager he was made bishop of Lavaur in south-west France, but was too young to carry out his official duties until 1534. He died aged only thirty-two.

De Selve was an experienced diplomat to the power centres of Europe. The movement for the reform of the Roman Church, resulting in the establishment of the Protestant Church, concerned him deeply. In 1529 he published a personal plea to German Protestants to reunite Christian Europe.

We do not know the reason for his secret visit to de Dinteville. He may have brought instructions from the French king regarding Henry VIII's break with the Roman Church when he married Anne Boleyn in 1533.


Back