François I of France - Jean and François Clouet (c. 1535, oil on panel) (Louvre).

Jean (or Janet) Clouet (1480 - 1541) was a miniaturist and painter who worked in France during the Renaissance. A portrait miniature is a miniature Portrait painting usually executed in Gouache or watercolor. Painting (pān'tīng in Art, is the practice of applying Color to a Surface (support base such as e French Renaissance is a recent term used to describe a cultural and artistic movement in France from the late 15th century to the early 17th century He was the father of François Clouet. François Clouet (c 1510 &ndash 22 December 1572) son of Jean Clouet, was a French Renaissance Miniaturist and painter particularly

Biography

Clouet was allegedly born in Bruxelles. Brussels (Bruxelles pronounced; Brussel pronounced) officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is

The authentic presence of this artist at the French court is first mentioned in 1516, the second year of the reign of Francis I. Francis I (September 12 1494 &ndash March 31 1547 was crowned King of France in 1515 in the cathedral at Reims and reigned until 1547 By a deed of gift made by the king to the artist's son of his father's estate, which had escheated to the crown, we learn that he was not actually a Frenchman, and never naturalized. He is supposed to have been a native of the Low Countries, and probably his real name was Clowet. The Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the countries on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine, Scheldt He lived several years in Tours, and there it was he met his wife, who was the daughter of a jeweller. Tours is a city in France the Préfecture (capital city of the Indre-et-Loire département, on the lower reaches of the river

He is recorded as living in Tours in 1522, and there is a reference to his wife's residence in the same town in 1523. In that year Clouet was awarded the position of Groom of the Chamber by the King, with a stipend at first of 180 livres and later of 240. Groom of the Chamber and Groom of the Privy Chamber were positions in the Royal Household of the British monarchy, the latter considerably more elevated He and his wife were certainly living in Paris in 1529, probably in the neighborhood of the parish of Ste Innoceth, in the cemetery of whicn they were buried. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city He stood godfather at a christening on July 8, 1540, but was no longer living in December 1541. Events 939 - The Major Occultation or Ghaybat el-Kubra of Muhammad al-Mahdi 1099 - First Crusade: 15000 .

His brother, known as Clouet de Navarre, was in the service of Marguerite d'Angoulême, sister of Francis I, and is referred to in a letter written by Marguerite about 1529. Jean Clouet had two children, François and Catherine, who married Abel Foulon, and left one son, who continued the profession of François Clouet after his decease. François Clouet (c 1510 &ndash 22 December 1572) son of Jean Clouet, was a French Renaissance Miniaturist and painter particularly

Jean Clouet was undoubtedly a very skillful portrait painter, although no work in existence has been proved to be his. He painted a portrait of the mathematician Oronce Finé in 1530, when Fine was thirty-six years old, but the portrait is now known only by a print. Oronce Finé (in Latin, Orontius Finnaeus or Finaeus; Oronzio Fineo ( December 20, 1494 - August 8, 1555) was Janet is generally believed, however, to have been responsible for a very large number of the wonderful portrait drawings now preserved at Chantilly, and at the Bibliothèque Nationale, and to him is attributed the portrait of an unknown man at Hampton Court, that of the dauphin Francis, son of Francis I at Antwerp, and one other portrait, that of Francis I in the Louvre. The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre located in Paris is the world's most visited art museum a historic monument and a national museum of France

Seven miniature portraits in the Manuscript of the Gallic War in the Bibliothèque Nationale (13,429) are attributed to Janet with very strong probability, and to these may be added an eighth in the collection of J. Pierpont Morgan, and representing Charles I de Cossé, Maréchal de Brissac, identical in its characteristics with the seven already known. John Pierpont Morgan ( April 17, 1837 &ndash March 31, 1913) was an American financier banker and art collector who There are other miniatures in the collection of Mr Morgan, which may be attributed to Jean Clouet with some strong degree of probability, inasmuch as they closely resemble the portrait drawings at Chantilly and in Paris which are taken to be his work.

The collection of drawings preserved in France, and attributed to this artist and his school, comprises portraits of all the important persons of the time of Francis I. In one album of drawings the portraits are annotated by the king himself, and his merry reflections, stinging taunts or biting satires, add very largely to a proper understanding of the life of his time and court. Definite evidence, however, is still lacking to establish the attribution of the best of these drawings and of certain oil paintings to the Jean Clouet.

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone