of the halls to which the public had access." He explained that one day, a "pusillanimous high official" noticed the painting and "conceived [of] the idea to screen the picture...from the curious public gaze, by drawing a green curtain in front of it." His action suggested that the official considered the painting to be erotic or even obscene, but instead of removing it, he had it veiled, and thus visibly marked the image as an open secret, or as something which should not be seen. At some point after that, Dr. Ver Heyden de Lacey claimed that "Somebody had the happy inspiration to expose [the veiled image] to the artistic and art-trained eyes of those called upon to take part in [a] civic function [at the police station] ... In preparation [for this] special function ... a thorough cleaning of the picture itself was ordered .... [But] Upon drawing the curtain, [they found only] an empty picture frame." In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the Gabrielle d'Estrées painting is often understood to represent female homosexuality, despite the fact that the women depicted are in fact sisters. It is listed in Lesbian Histories and Cultures: An Encyclopedia by Bonnie Zimmerman, and also appears on websites about lesbian history such as Sappho.com. Even outside of the LGBT community, the painting is frequently understood as a representation of lesbianism. In 1991, it appeared on the cover of the French magazine L’Événement du jeudi to illustrate a story on lesbian chic. In 2002, the German Green Party created a poster to announce their support of same-sex marriage, featuring two female models reenacting the Gabrielle portrait. References Further reading Will Fisher. "Gabrielle's New Clothes: Cultural Valuations and Evaluations of Gabrielle d'Estrées et une de ses soeurs." Textual Practice 12:3 (1998): 251–67. Rebecca Zorach. "Desiring Things." Art History 24.2 (2001): 195–212. 1590s paintings Paintings in the Louvre by French artists Bathing in art