Jean (orJehan)Fouquet (French:[fuke];c. 1420 – 1481) was a French painter andminiaturist.[1] A master ofpanel painting andmanuscript illumination, and the apparent inventor of theportrait miniature, he is considered one of the most important painters from the period between the lateGothic and earlyRenaissance. He was the first French artist to travel to Italy and experience first-hand the earlyItalian Renaissance.
Little is known of Fouquet's early life and education. Though long assumed to have been an apprentice of the so-calledBedford Master of Paris it is now suggested that he may have studied under theJouvenal 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 ofRomanQuattrocento artists such asFra Angelico andFilarete. During the 1450s he began working at the French court, where he counted kingsCharles VII and his successorLouis XI among his many patrons.
Fouquet was born inTours. Little is known of his life, but it is certain that he was in Italy before 1447, when he executed a portrait ofPope 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 theVan Eycks, forming the basis of early 15th-century French art and becoming the founder of an important new school.[1]
He worked for the French court, includingCharles VII, the treasurerÉtienne Chevalier, and the chancellorGuillaume Jouvenel des Ursins. Near the end of his career, he becamecourt painter toLouis XI.
His work can be associated with the French court's attempt to solidify Frenchnational identity in the wake of its long struggle with England in theHundred Years' War.[2]
One example is when Fouquet depicts Charles VII as one of thethree magi. This is one of the very few portraits of the king. According to some sources, the other two magi are theDauphin Louis, futureLouis XI, and his brother.
Fouquet's excellence as anilluminator, 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 andaltarpieces were for the first time brought together from various parts of Europe for the exhibition of the "French Primitives" held at theBibliothèque Nationale in Paris.[1]
His self-portrait miniature would be the earliest sole self-portrait surviving in Western art, if the 1433 portrait byJan van Eyck—usually calledPortrait of a Man orPortrait 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. TheMusée Condé inChantilly contains forty of the forty-seven remaining miniatures from theHours of Étienne Chevalier, painted in 1461 for Chevalier. Fouquet also illuminated a copy of theGrandes Chroniques de France, for an unknown patron, thought to be eitherCharles VII or someone else at the royal court.[3][4]
Also from Fouquet's hand are a few miniatures from five other books and eleven of the fourteen miniatures illustrating theAntiquities of the Jews byFlavius Josephus at theBibliothèque Nationale. The second volume of this manuscript, with only one of the original thirteen miniatures, was discovered and bought in 1903 byHenry Yates Thompson at a London sale, and restored by him to France.[1]
Only three drawings are attributed to Fouquet:
One of Fouquet's most important paintings is theMelun Diptych (c. 1452-1458), formerly in theCollegiate Church of Notre-Dame, Melun. The left wing of thediptych depicts Étienne Chevalier with his patron saintSt. Stephen and is now in theGemäldegalerie, Berlin. The right wing shows a pale Virgin and Child surrounded by red and blue angels and is now at theRoyal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp. Since at least the seventeenth century, the Virgin has been recognized as a portrait ofAgnès Sorel.[5]
Besides his self-portrait miniature, theLouvre has his oil portraits ofCharles VII[b] andGuillaume Jouvenel des Ursins[1] and six illuminated manuscript miniatures from theHours of Étienne Chevalier, theHistoire ancienne jusqu'à César and theFaits des Romains.
![Portrait of the Court Jester Pietro Gonnella [it], c. 1440-1445, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aJean_Fouquet%2c_Kunsthistorisches_Museum_Wien%2c_Gem%25C3%25A4ldegalerie_-_Der_ferraresische_Hofnarr_Gonella_-_GG_1840_-_Kunsthistorisches_Museum.jpg)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Foucquet, Jean".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 737.
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