Claude François (1614 - 17 May 1685) was a French painter and
Recollect Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
friar. He is better known as Frère Luc (''Brother Luke''), the name he adopted after becoming a monk.
Life
He was born in
Amiens
Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
and studied drawing and the initial principals of art there, before moving to Paris to complete his training under
Simon Vouet, whose style he closely copied throughout his life. From there he went to Rome to copy the old masters there. It was also there that he painted an ''Assumption of the Virgin'' as a high altarpiece for the
Jacobin
, logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg
, logo_size = 180px
, logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794)
, motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir)
, successor = Pa ...
church back in Amiens, aged only twenty. This painting, a copy from a work by
Jacopo Bassano
Jacopo Bassano (c. 1510 – 14 February 1592), known also as Jacopo dal Ponte, was an Italian painter who was born and died in Bassano del Grappa near Venice, and took the village as his surname. Trained in the workshop of his father, Francesco t ...
, was valued at 6,000
écu
The term ''écu'' () or crown may refer to one of several French coins. The first ''écu'' was a gold coin (the ''écu d'or'') minted during the reign of Louis IX of France, in 1266. ''Écu'' (from Latin ''scutum'') means shield, and the coin ...
s in 1635.
He then returned to Paris, where he took monastic vows aged 30 at the
Récollets du faubourg Saint-Martin. It is said that he fell from the top of pont du Cange into the
river Somme
The Somme ( , , ) is a river in Picardy, northern France.
The river is in length, from its source in the high ground of the former at Fonsomme near Saint-Quentin, to the Bay of the Somme, in the English Channel. It lies in the geological ...
aged fifteen and only escaped death by a kind of miracle and that he had seen the Virgin Mary and promised her to become a monk. After fulfilling this promise, he produced a painting of saint Augustine presenting a dead child to the Madonna and Child, with a canvas shown behind her showing his fall into the Somme.
Hardouin de Perefixe, archbishop of Paris, made several offers to ordain him as a priest, but Luc was so humble that he wanted no more than the diaconate.
He was sent to the Récollet monastery at
Châlons-en-Champagne and briefly stayed at the one in
Lesneven, before leaving for
Quebec City
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...
early in 1670. He stayed there a few months under the supervision of
Jean Talon
Jean Talon, Count d'Orsainville (; January 8, 1626 – November 23, 1694) was a French colonial administrator who served as the first Intendant of New France. Talon was appointed by King Louis XIV and his minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to ...
, painting his portrait and several religious works along with designing the reconstruction of Quebec's monastery and a future seminary there. He returned to France at the end of 1671, working on the decorative paintings in the
Louvre Palace
The Louvre Palace (french: link=no, Palais du Louvre, ), often referred to simply as the Louvre, is an iconic French palace located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, occupying a vast expanse of land between the Tuileries Ga ...
. The chapel of the convent in
Sézanne
Sézanne () is a commune in the Marne department and Grand Est region in north-eastern France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions an ...
(the convent later became a hospital) still holds several works by him, since he stayed for some years in the convent. The canvases he produced as an altarpiece for the Récollet convent chapel in
Châlons-en-Champagne are still in Châlons-en-Champagne, partly in the
Musée des beaux-arts et d'archéologie de Châlons-en-Champagne and partly in the Collégiale Notre-Dame-en-Vaux. His final surviving painting is ''Our Lady of the Rosary'', produced in 1680 for the chapel of the
Salpêtrière.
His students included
Roger de Piles
Roger de Piles (7 October 1635 – 5 April 1709) was a French painter, engraver, art critic and diplomat.
Life
Born in Clamecy, Roger de Piles studied philosophy and theology, and devoted himself to painting.
In 1662 he became tutor to Miche ...
,
Arnould de Vuez
Arnould de Vuez (1644, Saint-Omer - 1720) was a painter of Flemish origin active in Lille from 1680 to 1720.
Life Family and training
Arnould de Vuez was born in 1644 in Saint-Omer. His father served as a soldier in order to feed his 8 childr ...
and
Claude Simpol
Claude Simpol, ''Claude Saint-Pol'' or ''Claude Saint-Paul'' (c. 1666 – before 1711) was a French painter.
Life
Born in Clamecy, he studied under Boullogne and frère Luc. He was admitted to the Académie de Saint-Luc on 23 March 1695 and w ...
.
Works
* After 1664 and before 1685 : ''The Immaculate Conception'', for the
église Notre-Dame-de-la-Visitation de Champlain
Notre-Dame-de-la-Visitation (''Our Lady of the Visitation'') is a neo-Romanesque Catholic church on Chemin du Roy in Champlain, Mauricie, Quebec.
History
The church was built in 1878-1879 by the Princeville architect and entrepreneur Gédéon ...
;
*''
Saint Memmius'', painted for the Récollet monastery in Châlons, now in the
Collégiale Notre-Dame-en-Vaux de Châlons-en-Champagne
The Notre-Dame-en-Vaux is a Roman Catholic church located in Châlons-en-Champagne. The cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episco ...
;
*''Saint Francis'', painted for the Récollet monastery in Châlons, now in the
Collégiale Notre-Dame-en-Vaux de Châlons-en-Champagne
The Notre-Dame-en-Vaux is a Roman Catholic church located in Châlons-en-Champagne. The cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episco ...
;
*''The Road to Calvary'', in the
Collégiale Notre-Dame-en-Vaux de Châlons-en-Champagne
The Notre-Dame-en-Vaux is a Roman Catholic church located in Châlons-en-Champagne. The cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episco ...
;
* ''Nativity'' (parish church of Saint-Michel in
Lesneven)
*
Musée de Picardie,
Amiens
Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
.
Puy d'Amiens
Puy () is a geological term used locally in the Auvergne, France for a volcanic hill. The word derives from the Provençal ''puech'', meaning an isolated hill, coming from Latin ''podium'', which has given also ''puig'' in Catalan, ''poggio'' i ...
from 1666, offered by François Quignon : "''Croix aimable à Jésus quoiqu'ignominieuse''".
* Ottawa, Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, ''Saint Bonaventure'', achat en 1998.
*
Musée des beaux-arts et d'archéologie de Châlons-en-Champagne, ''Saint Francis Presented to Christ'', ''God Surrounded by Angels'' and ''Two Angels''
* Musée de Fécamp,
''Achilles and Ulysses Leaving Scyros'', Legs Fessard, 1995.
* Collégiale Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Loup de Montereau-Faut-Yonne, ''Mise au Tombeau''.
References
Bibliography
* Gaston Laplatte, ''Hôpital-hospice de Sézanne, fondé en 1164 par Henri Ier, comte de Champagne et de Brie. Notice sur les tableaux se trouvant dans la chapelle et la salle des délibérations de la commission administrative'', Sézanne, imprimerie de A. Patoux, 1912.
* Marie-Thérèse Laureilhe, « Le Frère Luc (1614-1685), Récollet, peintre de saint François », ''Bulletin de la société de l'histoire de l'art français'', 1984.
* Françoise Nicolle, ''Frère Luc, Un peintre du s XVIIe à Sézanne'', Rotary Club de Sézanne, Sézanne, 1996.
*
Jérôme Montcouquiol, "Quelques petits formats de frère Luc (1614-1685) on la tribunedelart.com
* Jérôme Montcouquiol et Jean-Christophe Baudequin, "Nouveaux suppléments à l'étude de frère Luc", http://www.latribunedelart.com/nouveaux-supplements-a-l-etude-de-frere-luc-1614-1685
External links
*
-
La Tribune de l'Art
*
Église de Champlain, official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francois, Claude
French Franciscans
17th-century French painters
People from Amiens
1614 births
1685 deaths