Jean Fouquet (French, born about 1415 - 1420, died before 1481) - Simon de Varie Kneeling in Pr
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Jean (or Jehan) Fouquet (–1481) 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 ...
and miniaturist. A master of panel painting and
manuscript illumination 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 ...
, and the apparent inventor of the
portrait miniature A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century eli ...
, he is considered one of the most important painters from the period between the late
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
and early Renaissance. He was the first French artist to travel to Italy and experience first-hand the early Italian Renaissance. Little is known of Fouquet's early life and education. Though long assumed to have been an apprentice of the so-called Bedford Master of Paris it is now suggested that he may have studied under the Jouvenal Master in Nantes, whose works were formerly assumed to be early works by Fouquet. Sometime between 1445 and 1447 he travelled to Italy where he came under the influence of Roman Quattrocento artists such as Fra Angelico and Filarete. During the 1450s he began working at the French court, where he counted kings Charles VII and his successor Louis XI among his many patrons.


Life

He was born in Tours. Little is known of his life, but it is certain that he was in Italy before 1447, when he executed a portrait of Pope Eugene IV, who died that year. The portrait survives only in copies from much later. Upon his return to France, while retaining his purely French sentiment, he grafted the elements of the Tuscan style, which he had acquired during his period in Italy, upon the style of the Van Eycks, forming the basis of early 15th-century French art and becoming the founder of an important new school. He worked for the French court, including Charles VII, the treasurer
Étienne Chevalier Étienne Chevalier (c.1410 in Melun – 1474) was a major civil servant of the French kings Charles VII and Louis XI. He is also notable for commissioning two major works by Jean Fouquet - the Melun Diptych (which he gave to the Collégiale ...
, and the chancellor
Guillaume Jouvenel des Ursins Guillaume Jouvenel des Ursins (15 March 1400 - 23 June 1472) was Justice Minister of France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overse ...
. Near the end of his career, he became court painter to Louis XI. His work can be associated with the French court's attempt to solidify French national identity in the wake of its long struggle with England in the
Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...
. One example is when Fouquet depicts Charles VII as one of the three magi. This is one of the very few portraits of the king. According to some sources, the other two magi are the Dauphin Louis, future Louis XI, and his brother. Image:Les funérailles d Étienne Chevalier.jpg, The burial of
Étienne Chevalier Étienne Chevalier (c.1410 in Melun – 1474) was a major civil servant of the French kings Charles VII and Louis XI. He is also notable for commissioning two major works by Jean Fouquet - the Melun Diptych (which he gave to the Collégiale ...
Image:L Adoration des Mages.jpg, Charles VII as one of the three magi. File:Entrée de Charles V à Paris.jpg, Entry of Charles V in Paris on 2 August 1358, Grandes Chroniques de France (1455-1460) Image:Mariage de Charles IV le Bel et de Marie de Luxembourg.jpg, Marriage of Charles IV and Marie of Luxembourg File:Hommage d Édouard Ier à Philippe le Bel.jpg, From Grandes Chroniques de France illustrated by Jean Fouquet, 1455-1460 Paris


Works

Fouquet's excellence as an
illuminator Illuminator may refer to: * A light source * Limner, an illustrator of manuscripts * Illuminator radar * The Illuminator, a political art collective based in New York City * Illuminator (Marvel Comics), a Christian superhero appearing in America ...
, his precision in the rendering of the finest detail, and his power of clear characterization in work on this minute scale secured his eminent position in French art. His importance as a painter was demonstrated when his portraits and
altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...
s were for the first time brought together from various parts of Europe for the exhibition of the "French Primitives" held at the in Paris. His self-portrait miniature would be the earliest sole self-portrait surviving in Western art, if the 1433 portrait by
Jan van Eyck Jan van Eyck ( , ; – July 9, 1441) was a painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Northern Renaissance art. Ac ...
—usually called '' Portrait of a Man'' or ''Portrait of a Man in a Turban''—is not in fact a self-portrait, as some art historians believe. Far more numerous are his illuminated books and miniatures. The in
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, Miss ...
contains forty miniatures from the
Hours of Étienne Chevalier The Hours of Étienne Chevalier is an illuminated book of hours commissioned by Étienne Chevalier, treasurer to king Charles VII of France, from the miniature painter and illuminator Jean Fouquet. Only 48 of its leaves with 47 miniatures survive ...
, painted in 1461 for Chevalier. Fouquet also illuminated a copy of the '' Grandes Chroniques de France'', for an unknown patron, thought to be either Charles VII or someone else at the royal court. Also from Fouquet's hand are eleven of the fourteen miniatures illustrating a translation of Josephus at the Bibliothèque Nationale. The second volume of this manuscript, with only one of the original thirteen miniatures, was discovered and bought in 1903 by
Henry Yates Thompson Henry Yates Thompson (15 December 1838 – 8 July 1928) was a British newspaper proprietor and collector of illuminated manuscripts. Life and career Yates Thompson was the eldest of five sons born to Samuel Henry Thompson, a banker from a lead ...
at a London sale, and restored by him to France. One of Fouquet's most important paintings is the ''
Melun Diptych The Melun Diptych is a two-panel oil painting by the French court painter Jean Fouquet (c. 1420–1481) created around 1452. The name of this diptych came from its original home in the Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame in Melun. The left panel dep ...
'' (), formerly in the
Collegiate Church of Notre Dame, Melun Collegiate may refer to: * College * Webster's Dictionary, a dictionary with editions referred to as a "Collegiate" * Collegiate (1926 film), ''Collegiate'' (1926 film), 1926 American silent film directed by Del Andrews * Collegiate (1936 film), ...
. The left wing of the diptych depicts Étienne Chevalier with his patron saint
St. Stephen Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...
, and is now in the . The right wing shows a pale Virgin and Child surrounded by red and blue angels and is now at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp. Since at least the seventeenth century, the Virgin has been recognized as a portrait of Agnès Sorel. The Louvre has his oil portraits of Charles VII, of Count Wilczek, and of Guillaume Jouvenel des Ursins, and a portrait drawing in crayon. The National Library of France has illuminated parchment manuscripts which recount the history of the Jewish people from Creation to the outbreak of the Jewish revolt against the Romans in A.D. 66.


Gallery

File:FouquetRobertet.jpg,
Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...
File:David et l Amalécite.jpg,
King David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
and the Amalekite, as described in
Antiquities of the Jews ''Antiquities of the Jews'' ( la, Antiquitates Iudaicae; el, Ἰουδαϊκὴ ἀρχαιολογία, ''Ioudaikē archaiologia'') is a 20-volume historiographical work, written in Greek, by historian Flavius Josephus in the 13th year of the re ...
by Flavius Josephus File:Construction du Temple de Jérusalem.jpg, Construction of the Temple of Jerusalem File:Pompée dans le Temple de Jérusalem.jpg, Pompey in the Temple of Jerusalem, as described in
Antiquities of the Jews ''Antiquities of the Jews'' ( la, Antiquitates Iudaicae; el, Ἰουδαϊκὴ ἀρχαιολογία, ''Ioudaikē archaiologia'') is a 20-volume historiographical work, written in Greek, by historian Flavius Josephus in the 13th year of the re ...
by Flavius Josephus File:Jean Fouquet - The Martyrdom of St Apollonia - WGA08031.jpg, The Martyrdom of Saint Apollonia File:Jean Fouquet 002.jpg,
Book of Hours The book of hours is a Christian devotional book used to pray the canonical hours. The use of a book of hours was especially popular in the Middle Ages and as a result, they are the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscrip ...
File:0 Guillaume Jouvenel des Ursins - Jean Fouquet - INV 9619 - Louvre.JPG, Portrait of the
Chancellor of France In France, under the ''Ancien Régime'', the officer of state responsible for the judiciary was the Chancellor of Francesometimes called Grand Chancellor or Lord Chancellor (french: Chancelier de France). The Chancellor was responsible for seei ...
,
Guillaume Jouvenel des Ursins Guillaume Jouvenel des Ursins (15 March 1400 - 23 June 1472) was Justice Minister of France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overse ...
, Musée du Louvre, Paris File:Jean Fouquet- Portrait of the Ferrara Court Jester Gonella.JPG, Portrait of the Court
Jester A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and ...
Pietro Gonnella,
Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( "Museum of Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, it is crowned with an octagonal do ...
, Vienna File:Pietà de Nouans.jpg, ''Pieta of Nouans'' Church of
Nouans-les-Fontaines Nouans-les-Fontaines () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department The following is a list of the 272 communes of the Indre-et-Loire department of France. ...
File:Portrait du pape Eugène IV.jpg, Copy of the lost Portrait of Pope
Eugene IV Pope Eugene IV ( la, Eugenius IV; it, Eugenio IV; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 March 1431 to his death in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and ...
File:La Descente du Saint-Esprit.jpg, Illustration from that depicts the cathedral of Notre-Dame with the rest of Paris in the background


See also

*
Melun Diptych The Melun Diptych is a two-panel oil painting by the French court painter Jean Fouquet (c. 1420–1481) created around 1452. The name of this diptych came from its original home in the Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame in Melun. The left panel dep ...
*
Book of Hours of Simon de Varie The ''Book of Hours of Simon de Varie'' (or the ''Varie Hours'') is a French illuminated manuscript book of hours commissioned by the court official Simon de Varie, with miniatures attributed to at least four artists; hand A who may have been a wor ...


References


Notes


Citations


Sources

* * * *


Further reading

* *


External links


Encyclopædia Britannica
* ttp://expositions.bnf.fr/fouquet/index.htm Bibliothèque nationale de France - Jean Fouquet, peintre et enlumineur du XVe siècle (full French version)br>Fouquet's decorations for the Book of Hours of Simon de Varie
Manuscript 74 G 37. Koninklijke Bibliotheek ''National Library of the Netherlands'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Fouquet, Jean 1420 births 1481 deaths 15th-century French painters Catholic painters Court painters French male painters French Renaissance painters French Roman Catholics Manuscript illuminators Artists from Tours, France Portrait miniaturists