Jean Monier (or Mosnier; 1600–1656) was a French

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

. He was born and died in

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the most populated city of the ...

. Monier's father also named Jean was a glass painter and early mentor. According to his earliest biographer, Jean Bernier, Monier executed for Queen Marie de Medici a copy the Virgin of the Green Cushion by Andrea Solari, which she gave to the Convent of the Cordeliers as a replacement for the original that she had accepted as a gift from the nuns. She was so impressed with his work that she rewarded him with a significant payment. He used the money to travel to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

where he became familiar with the works of

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 ...

. In 1623 Monier returned to France, and performed some additional work for Queen Marie. He then retired to briefly to

Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as d ...

, then eventually returned to Blois. Bernier also credits him with the discovery of a Holy Family by

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

that had laid forgotten, gathering dust, in an attic of the

Château de Blois A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

. The painting rediscovered by Mosnier has been identified by Jan Sammer as The Holy Family of Francis I, Louvre inv. 604. This painting had been commissioned by

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political an ...

for Claude de France, who died at the

in 1524. Jean Monier's son

Pierre Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

also became a painter. Monier died at Blois in 1656.

Works

* La magnificence royale (

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

)

References

* Jean Bernier, ''Histoire de Blois'', Paris, 1682, pp. 569–572 * Jan Sammer, ''Tommaso Vincidor and the Flemish Romanists'' in ''Late Raphael: Proceedings of the International Symposium'', Madrid, 2013, p. 124-125. * Émile Bellier de La Chavignerie et

Louis Auvray Louis Auvray (; 7 April 1810, in Valenciennes27 April 1890, in Paris) was a French sculptor and art critic. He was the pupil of David d'Angers and was the brother of Félix Auvray, a painter. He continued the ''Dictionnaire Général des Artistes ...

, ''Dictionnaire général des artistes de l'école française'', Paris, Renouard, 1882–1885, p. 132

External links

Jean Mosnier (French)''Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi''
a fully digitized exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries, which contains material on Jean Monier (see index) 1600 births 17th-century French painters French male painters 1656 deaths {{France-painter-17thC-stub