Dateable by costume to circa 1590 this likeness was painted soon after her husband’s assassination, by order of King Henri III, in 1588. She never forgave the king for ordering her husband’s murder to the extent that she publicly approved of the king’s own assassination the following year. She is shown here as the quintessential French noble woman: her collar, composed of flat pleats, is widely fanned out and her hair up in “la coiffure en raquette”. The pearls around her neck, the gold and ruby pin in her hair, and the bold red rosettes attached to her sleeves all accent the impressive costume.

Catherine was the daughter of François I, Duke of Nevers (1516 – 1561), a peer of France known for his wealth and military abilities and Marguerite de Bourbon, elder sister of King Antoine of Navarre. Her sisters were Henriette de Clèves, Duchess of Nevers and Marie of Clèves, Princess of Condé. At the court of King Charles IX, they were collectively nicknamed the “Three Graces”.

On October 4, 1560, aged only twelve, she married the Prince of Porcien, Antoine de Croy (1540 – 1567), who later became a Protestant leader and who was to die young, making Catherine a widow for the first time at the age of nineteen. In 1570, she married for the second time the very powerful Duke of Guise, Henri de Lorraine. As the Duchess of Guise, she gave her husband fourteen children, half of whom survived. Through her marriage to Henry de Lorraine, Catherine’s life was closely associated with the House of Guise and the events of the Wars of Religion.

In 1578, she was involved in a story of gallantry that caused the death of one of King Henry III's favourites, Paul de Stuer, Lord of Saint-Mégrin. He was seeking Catherine's favours, but the Duke of Guise, who had political reasons to get rid of him and who had surprised his wife writing to the gallant, decided to have him assassinated.

Catherine never forgave the king for the assassination of her husband at Blois in 1588. She fiercely sided with the League and approved the assassination of the king in August 1589. She supported her son Charles, who became Duke of Guise after his father's death. She also supported his candidacy for the crown of France in vain at the Estates-General of 1593. She only rallied to Henry IV, who was her first cousin, when he converted to the Catholic religion in 1593.

Catherine of Cleves was later the first lady-in-waiting to Marie de Medici, wife of Henry IV. During the troubles of the regency, she advised her son Charles not to participate in the noble uprisings. The Guises were therefore one of the strongest supporters of Marie de Medici's government. As a result, when Louis XIII took power, Catherine of Cleves shared her exile in Blois.

Later returning to court, Catherine of Cleves continued to defend the interests of the House of Guise despite her age. The humiliation of the Grandees by Richelieu, and the death of her daughter, Princess Louise Marguerite of Conti, in 1631, dealt her a very hard blow. Catherine then retired to the Château d'Eu where she died in 1632, at the age of 85. She is buried in the chapel of the Jesuit college of Eu, of which as Countess of Eu, she was the founder. She had built a sumptuous funeral monument for herself and another for her deceased husband. These tombs still exist in the choir of this chapel, surmounted by their marble statues, sculpted in Italy.[1]

[1] Biography extracted from: https://associationedit.fr/catherine-de-cleves/