François Dubois

[1] Dubois fled France following the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572, when Catholic mobs killed about 3,000 Protestants (Huguenots) in Paris.

It is not known whether he witnessed the event but a possible relative, the surgeon Antoine Dubois, died in the slaughter.

[1] A fellow Huguenot refugee, a banker from Lyon, commissioned the painting to commemorate the event.

[citation needed] The painting shows two incidents from the massacre frequently seen in other depictions in popular prints and book illustrations: the body of Huguenot leader Gaspard de Coligny hangs out of a window at the rear to the right, and is also depicted decapitated on the ground under the window, with the Duke of Guise standing behind it.

To the left rear, Catherine de' Medici, emerges from the Louvre Palace and inspects a heap of bodies.