Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet (1 May 1644 – 5 April 1717) was a
French painter
This is a list of French painters sorted alphabetically and by the century in which the painter was most active.
alphabetically
A–C
* Edmond Aman-Jean (1858–1936)
* Albert André (1869–1954)
* Mathuren Arthur Andrieu (1822–189 ...
, especially of religious subjects.
Biography
He was born into an artistic family in
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
. His first training in art was from his father, Laurent Jouvenet; a generation earlier, his grandfather,
Noel Jouvenet, may have taught
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 ...
.
Jouvenet early showed a remarkable aptitude for his profession, and on arriving in Paris, attracted the attention of
Le Brun, by whom he was employed at
Versailles, notably in the ''Salon de Mars'' (1671–74), and under whose auspices, in 1675, he became a member of the ''
Académie royale
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
'', of which he was elected professor in 1681, and one of the four perpetual rectors in 1707. He also worked under
Charles de La Fosse in the
Invalides and
Trianon.
The great mass of works that he executed, chiefly in Paris, many of which, including his celebrated ''Miraculous Draught of Fishes'' (engraved by
Jean Audran Jean Audran (1667-1756) was a French engraver and printmaker. The brother of Benoit, and the third son of Germain Audran, he was born at Lyons in 1667. After learning the rudiments of the art under his father, he was placed under the care of his un ...
) are now in the
Louvre, show his fertility in invention and execution, and also that he possessed in a high degree that general dignity of arrangement and style which distinguished the school of Le Brun.
Anthony Blunt
Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), styled Sir Anthony Blunt KCVO from 1956 to November 1979, was a leading British art historian and Soviet spy.
Blunt was professor of art history at the University of London, dire ...
found in Jouvenet's manner reminiscences of Poussin,
Le Sueur, and the late work of
Raphael, but with a characteristic
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 ...
emotionalism that "is still far from the full Baroque ... His compositions are primarily planned as high reliefs, and the movements are in sharp diagonal straight lines rather than in curves."
[Blunt & Beresford 1999, p. 261.] The
naturalism of Jouvenet's style sets his work apart from most of the religious paintings of his time.
Jouvenet died on 5 April 1717, having been forced by paralysis during the last four years of his life to work with his left hand.
Gallery
File:Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet - The Education of the Virgin - WGA12032.jpg, ''The Education of the Virgin'' (1700)
File:Jean Jouvenet Adoration of the Magi.jpg, ''Adoration of the Magi''
File:Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet - The Raising of Lazarus - WGA12033.jpg, ''The Raising of Lazarus'' (1706)
File:Jouvenet Last Supper.jpg, ''Last Supper''
File:Jean Jouvenet - La visitation de la Vierge ou Le Magnificat, 1716.jpg, ''Visitation de la Vierge'' (1716)
File:Jean Jouvenet Descent From The Cross.jpg, ''Descent From The Cross'' (1697)
File:The Deposition - Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet.jpg, ''The Deposition'' (1709)
File:Jean Jouvenet The Triumph of Justice.jpg, ''The Triumph of Justice'' (1713)
Rediscoveries
* ''Darius and Alexandre'', circa 1670, graphite on blue paper, study for the canvas offered to the Lycée Louis-le-Grand (Paris) by the King Louis XIV in 1674 (rediscovered in 2006 by Prof. Alain Béjard & Dimitri Joannidès,
Alicem Institute, Luxemburg)
Notes
External links
*: Four paintings by Jouvenet in British national collections
References
*Blunt, Anthony, & Beresford, Richard (1999). ''Art and architecture in France, 1500-1700''. Yale University Press Pelican history of art. New Haven: Yale University Press.
* Descamps, J.-B., & Dézallier d'Argenville, A.-J. (1840). ''Vie des peintres flamands et hollandais''. Marseille (J. Barile).
* ''Memoires inedits de l'acad. roy. de peinture. et de sculpture'', 1854
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jouvenet, Jean
1647 births
1717 deaths
Artists from Rouen
French Baroque painters
Catholic painters