Francisque Millet (27 April 1642, in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

3 June 1679, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

), also known as Jean-François Milée or Millet I, was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

landscape painter of the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

era.

Biography

Francisque Millet - the finding of moses

According to

Houbraken Houbraken is a Dutch-language surname. People with this surname include: *Antonina Houbraken Antonina Houbraken (30 May 1686 – December 1736) was an 18th-century Dutch draughtswoman who is known for her many topographical drawings of Dutc ...

, Millet was the son of a French ivory worker from

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

, who had been tempted to move to

Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Bra ...

as a result of the patronage of

Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...

. Since he found a market for ivory work in Antwerp, he stayed there and when later his son showed a talent for drawing, he apprenticed him to Laurentius Frank, a cousin of

Abraham Genoels Abraham Genoels II or Abraham Genouil (nickname: Archimedes) (25 May 1640, Antwerp – 10 May 1723, Antwerp) was a Flemish Baroque painter, draughtsman, engraver and tapestry designer. He is now mainly known for his landscape paintings, drawings ...

. This Genoels wrote Houbraken that he met Millet as a boy of 17 in 1659 in Paris (Houbraken mentions that he is aware that this shows a discrepancy with Millet's recorded birth date in Antwerp by two years) where he was working with his cousin. Genoels claimed that the young Millet had a remarkable memory for detail, and could make copies of any artwork quickly and accurately without needing to turn his head towards the subject. He could thus make copies of paintings with ease. At the age of eighteen, he married his master's daughter. He specialized in ''Italianate'' landscapes with figures in the manner of ''Pousyn'' (Houbraken means the landscape painter

Gaspard Dughet Gaspard Dughet (15 June 1615 – 25 May 1675), also known as Gaspard Poussin, was a French painter born in Rome. Life Dughet was born in Rome, the son of a French pastry-cook and his Italian wife. He has always generally been considered as a Fr ...

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a ...

's brother-in-law). Though he enjoyed success on his travels through France, England, and Holland, he tended to spend more than he earned, a practise which Houbraken disapproved of. He suffered from a sudden high fever which caused him to go insane and died shortly thereafter at the age of 36. He was buried in the St Nicolas-des-Champs church in Paris.

Family

His son, also named Jean François Millet (1666–1723), and also called Francisque, was born in

, and was made a member of the Academy of Painting in 1709. He consulted

Watteau Jean-Antoine Watteau (, , ; baptised October 10, 1684died July 18, 1721) Alsavailablevia Oxford Art Online (subscription needed). was a French painter and draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement, as ...

and other followers of the ''

fête galante ''Fête galante'' () (courtship party) is a category of painting specially created by the French Academy in 1717 to describe Antoine Watteau's (1684–1721) variations on the theme of the fête champêtre, which featured figures in ball dress o ...

'' school when he wanted figures for his landscapes. The museum of Grenoble has a "Paysage" by him which is adorned with Watteau's figures.

Legacy

Though Houbraken claimed that Millet had two sons who both became painters, the Dutch

RKD The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...

only shows him influencing the painter Jean-François Millet (II) and Jean Coustel.Biographical details of Francisque Millet
at the

Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...

Perhaps because of the confusion between this painter and later painters with the same name, most notably

Jean-François Millet Jean-François Millet (; 4 October 1814 – 20 January 1875) was a French artist and one of the founders of the Barbizon school in rural France. Millet is noted for his paintings of peasant farmers and can be categorized as part of the Realism ...

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

later wrote a farcical play called ''

Is He Dead? ''Is He Dead?'' is a play by Mark Twain based on his earlier 1893 short story. The play, written by Twain in 1898, was first published in print in 2003 after Mark Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin read the manuscript in the archives of the Mark ...

'', about an artist who stages his own death in order to make more money with his work.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Millet, Francisque 1642 births 1679 deaths Flemish Baroque painters French Baroque painters Painters from Antwerp