Complainte de la Nature - Perréal - 1516

Jean Perréal (-) -- sometimes called Peréal, Johannes Parisienus or Jean De Paris -- was a successful portraitist for French Royalty in the first half of the 16th century, as well as an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and

limner A limner is an illuminator of manuscripts, or more generally, a painter of ornamental decoration. One of the earliest mentions of a limner's work is found in the book ''Methods and Materials of Painting'' by Charles Lock Eastlake (1793–1865). ...

illuminated manuscripts An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...

. He was active mostly in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

as well. Perréal's major patrons were Charles of Bourbon, King Charles VIII,

Louis XII Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Maria of Cleves, he succeeded his 2nd cousin once removed and brother in law at the tim ...

and

Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to: * Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407) * Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450 * Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547 * Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...

, all of France. It is mentioned that in honor of Charles of Bourbon he painted escutcheons for the entry of the nobleman to the city of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, but the date of Charles' birth, 1489, and the time of the artist's residence in Lyons do not coincide accurately. His most remarkable works are often considered to be a portrait of Charles VIII (

Musée Condé The Musée Condé – in English, the Condé Museum – is a French museum located inside the Château de Chantilly in Chantilly, Oise, 40 km north of Paris. In 1897, Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale, son of Louis Philippe I, bequeathed the c ...

) and a miniature piece, ', an image of a poet who, like Perréal, was a royal

valet de chambre ''Valet de chambre'' (), or ''varlet de chambre'', was a court appointment introduced in the late Middle Ages, common from the 14th century onwards. Royal households had many persons appointed at any time. While some valets simply waited on t ...

. A letter from Perréal to Margaret of Austria circa 1511 survives describing the relative merits of marble and alabaster, signed 'Jehan Perreal de Paris, votre Valet de Chambre et paintre indigne.' He was an accomplished designer of tombs, medals, theater scenery and ceremonies, including the marriage of King Louis XII and his second wife Mary Tudor. For the marriage, Perréal was sent to London in 1514, where he also executed a portrait of Mary Tudor. Working in a glazed paint pigment on glass, he also crafted a unique portrait of Louis XII, entitled ''Louis XII of France in Prayer'' (

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...

). As a sculptural designer, Perréal sketched the design for the

tomb of Francis II, Duke of Brittany A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

, which was executed by the French sculptor Michel Colombe, and is now in the cathedral of

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

. In 1516, he painted an

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

image, ''la complainte de nature à l'alchimiste errant'' (The Lament of Nature to the Wandering Alchemist), in which a winged figure with arms crossed, representing

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

, sits on a tree stump with branches that have been intricately shaped, with a fire burning in its base, conversing with an

alchemist Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscience, protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in Chinese alchemy, C ...

in an ankle-length coat, standing outside of his stone-laid shoreline laboratory. Live resprouting shoots emerge from either side of the tree stump seat to form a fancifully twined and

pleached Pleaching or plashing is a technique of interweaving living and dead branches through a hedge creating a fence, hedge or lattices. Trees are planted in lines, and the branches are woven together to strengthen and fill any weak spots until the hedg ...

two-story-tall chair back. His style is noted as keeping to the elegant French tradition, as well as a touch of

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; ...

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...

..">"Perréal, Jean", ''Encyclopædia Britannica.'' 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 24 July 2007 .
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References

L. Nieddu, L' Art du portrait dans l'oeuvre de Jean Perréal et ses liens avec le Nord. Dans "Arts et artistes du Nord à la cour de Francois Ier". ACTES, Bruxelles, Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique, 25, 26 fevrier 2016, Ed. Picard, Bruxelles 2017, pp. 163–176

Selected works

* *1498 - ''Portrait of Charles VIII'', Oil, (

Chantilly Chantilly may refer to: Places France *Chantilly, Oise, a city located in the Oise department **US Chantilly, a football club *Château de Chantilly, a historic château located in the town of Chantilly United States * Chantilly, Missou ...

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*1516 - ''The Lament of Nature to the Wandering Alchemist'' (''la complainte de nature à l'alchimiste errant''), miniature, (

Musée Marmottan Monet Musée Marmottan Monet ( en, Marmottan Museum of Monet) is an art museum in Paris, France, dedicated to artist Claude Monet. The collection features over three hundred Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings by Claude Monet, including his 1 ...

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 ...

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*1520 - ''Portrait of Mary Tudor'', Oil on panel, ( National Portrait Gallery (United Kingdom), National Portrait Gallery,

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Perreal, Jean 15th-century French painters French male painters 16th-century French painters Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain