Gothic Era



Gothic Art Map


 

Jean Fouquet

(b Tours, c. 1415–20; d Tours, before 8 Nov 1481).

French painter and illuminator. He is regarded as the most important French painter of the 15th century and was responsible for introducing Italian Renaissance elements into French painting. Little is known of his life, and, apart from a signed self-portrait medallion (Paris, Louvre), his only authenticated work is the Antiquites judaïques (Paris, Bib. N., MS. fr. 247). A corpus of works by Fouquet has therefore been established on the basis of stylistic criteria, but its exact chronology is uncertain.

Miniatures from the


"Book of Hours of Etienne Chevalier"



 

Book of Hours

Name of a liturgical book, used during the Middle Ages, containing prayers, psalms, antiphons, responsories, hymns, lessons, versicles, and little chapters to be recited at the canonical hours. In the Armenian and Ruthenian Churches such books are still in use, but in the Latin Church they have been incorporated in the Divine Office or Breviary. The "Tres Riches Heures," a 15th-century manuscript in the Musee Conde, Chantilly, executed under the direction of the Duke of Berry and reputed to have been illuminated by the Limbourg brothers, is one of several beautiful Books of Hours still extant. It contains a calendar embodying a concrete, naturalistic conception of the seasons, the first attempt at modern landscape art. The "Grandes Heures" and the "Tres Belles Heures" (Brussels) of the Duke of Berry, the Book of Hours of Etienne Chevalier (Chantilly), and the Hours of Anne of Brittany (Paris) are similar.

(New Catholic Dictionary)

 

During the Hundred Years' War against the English and beyond, French kings from Charles VII (1422-61) to François I (1515-47) had their court in the Loire valley. It was there that they built many of their finest residences. Jean Fouquet worked there, presumably after having done his apprenticeship as a miniaturist in Paris. A journey he undertook to Rome provided him with further inspiration, which he incorporated into his illustrations with great ingenuity. Most significant are the miniatures for the Book of Hours for Etienne Chevalier, secretary and treasurer to Charles VII. Here we see landscapes typical of the early Italian Renaissance, along with depictions of palaces and castles typical of the Limburg brothers or the Parisian School.