Who was Jean Clouet

Portrait of King François I by Jean Clouet

Jean Clouet (1480–1541) was Court Painter to François I.

Like his predecessors Fouquet, Bourdichon and Perréal (all named Jean) he lived in Tours. Also like his predecessors, Clouet did his drawings in red and black chalk and was a gifted miniaturist.

Louise of Savoy, justifiably proud of her twenty-one year old son's astonishing victory at the Battle of Marignano in Italy she commissioned Clouet to paint miniatures of his Generals. Seven are in Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

Many of Clouet’s drawings were done off the cuff, for the sitter’s friends or family, some, however, were preparatory studies for formal portraits. Pinned on his easel for reference, the holes can still be seen.

Jean Clouet came from a long line of painters. His father, Jehan Cloet, was a successful artist, his uncle was employed by Marguerite of Angouleme, sister of François I. Jehan moved his family from Brussels to 6 rue Colbert in Tours. The French court was based there for over half a century, but the King's preferred residence was Château Amboise.

Portrait of Marguerite of Angouleme by Jean Clouet

Artists from all over Europe flocked to the French Court which was known to support the arts. François I headed a royal patronage never before seen in France. He paid Jean Clouet the same as his Head Surgeon to reflect his admiration.

Jean Clouet met his wife, the daughter of a goldsmith, in Tours. His son François, probably named in honour of his father’s royal patron, was born there in 1510. The family lived there until 1529. When François relocated his Court to Fontainebleau near Paris he took Clouet with him. After his father’s death in Paris, François succeeded him as official painter to François I, to the king’s son, Henry II and to his grandsons, Francois II, and Charles IX.

Not only did Clouet not sign or date his drawings he rarely named the sitter. Never-the-less, over three hundred drawings of courtiers are known to be by him. Identifying the sitters was helped by Catherine de Medici who commissioned Clouet to draw a series portraits of people at Court.  He was such a superb portraitist, his drawings are so true to life, she was able to put names to many of them. In one album, François I added affectionate taunts and insults about the sitters. As they are all on paper, now five hundred years old, it’s a miracle they survived. 

What strikes the viewer is that all the sitters are good looking. Were there no unattractive people at Court? Did Clouet choose not to draw them or did they not want their portraits done? Leonardo, fascinated by ugly people, followed them in order to sketch them.

Unlike many artists Clouet was able to draw children, managing to capture their freshness and innocence. He drew and painted portraits of all the children of François I and Queen Claude.

After almost total oblivion for three centuries, Clouet’s beautiful chalk drawings were rediscovered in 1850. Was this when the English Lord Carlisle realised to his delight that his collection of over three hundred drawings were by Clouet? He sold them to Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale, probably to avoid death duties. They can be seen in Musée Condé, Chantilly.

Henri d’Orleans’s father was Louis-Philippe, so he knew Château Amboise well. He inherited Chantilly from his godfather, the prince of Condé. Told to leave France after the Revolution of 1848 which abolished the monarchy he became the greatest art collector of his time. He left Chantilly to the Institut de France on condition Musée Condé be open to the public and his collection was never loaned.

The British Museum also owns a few Clouet drawings donated by art collector George Salting.

Although Clouet learned cross hatching from Leonardo and although he knew the king’s large collection of Italian Renaissance paintings including some by Raphael and Andrea del Sarto, experts agree his work remained decidedly French.

Post by Pamela