Jean Clouet

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Clouet, Jean (d Paris, 1540/1). French painter of Netherlandish descent. He was celebrated in his lifetime, but no documented works survive. A handful of portraits, however, including Man Holding Petrarch's Works (Royal Coll., Windsor), and a number of drawings (mainly in the Musée Condé, Chantilly) are attributed to him on fairly strong circumstantial evidence. The paintings belong to the tradition of Netherlandish naturalism that dominated French portraiture at this time, but the drawings are more personal and often of very high quality. They have been compared to those of Clouet's contemporary Hans Holbein the Younger, with which they share a keenness of observation; whereas Holbein's drawings are overwhelmingly linear, however, Clouet's are subtly modelled in light and shade with a delicate system of hatching that recalls Leonardo, whose work he could well have known.

Jean's son François (b ?Tours, c.1510; d Paris, 22 Sept. 1572) succeeded him as court painter in 1541. His work is somewhat better documented than his father's, but his career is still fairly obscure (they were known by the same nickname, Janet, which has caused much confusion, and one of the finest works attributed to him, the celebrated portrait of Francis I in the Louvre, showing the king in a lavish gold doublet, has also been given to Jean). François, too, was mainly a portraitist, his signed works including Pierre Quthe (1562, Louvre, Paris), much more Italianate than any of his father's paintings, and Lady in her Bath (c.1570, NG, Washington). This mysterious and captivating work has been traditionally identified as representing Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henry II, but it is more probably a likeness of Marie Touchet, mistress of Charles IX. A number of drawings, mostly in the Musée Condé, are also attributed to François.

Clouet, Jean (d. 1540/1). French painter of Netherlandish descent. He was celebrated in his lifetime, but no documented works survive. A handful of portraits, however, including Man Holding Petrarch's Works (Royal Coll., Windsor), and a number of drawings (mainly in the Musée Condé, Chantilly) are attributed to him on fairly strong circumstantial evidence. The paintings belong to the tradition of Netherlandish naturalism that dominated French portraiture at this time, but the drawings are more personal and often of very high quality. They have been compared to those of Clouet's contemporary Hans Holbein the Younger, with which they share a keenness of observation; whereas Holbein's drawings are overwhelmingly linear, however, Clouet's are subtly modelled in light and shade with a delicate system of hatching that recalls Leonardo, whose work he could well have known. Jean's son, François (c.1510–72), succeeded him as court painter in 1541. His work is somewhat better documented than his father's, but his career is still very obscure (they were known by the same nickname, ‘Janet’, which has caused much confusion, and one of the finest works attributed to him, the celebrated portrait of Francis I in the Louvre, showing the king in a lavish gold doublet, has also been given to Jean). François, too, was mainly a portraitist, his signed works including Pierre Quthe (1562, Louvre, Paris), much more Italianate than any of his father's paintings, and Lady in her Bath (c.1570, NG, Washington). This mysterious and captivating work has been traditionally identified as representing Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henry II, but it is more probably a likeness of Marie Touchet, mistress of Charles IX. A number of drawings, mostly in the Musée Condé, are also attributed to him.

Jean Clouet , called Janet or Jehannet , c.1485–1540, portrait and miniature painter. He was court painter and valet de chambre to the French king Francis I. He is thought to have been Flemish and may have been related to Jehan Cloët, painter to the duke of Burgundy in the late 15th cent. None of the works attributed to Jean Clouet can be proved to have been his. They include portraits of Francis I (Louvre), the dauphin Francis (Antwerp), and Charles de Cossé (Metropolitan Mus.); seven miniature portraits (Bibliothèque nationale); and a large number of portrait drawings, all of the highest quality. The drawings are characterized by a geometric simplicity of form and softness of modeling. His son, François Clouet, c.1510–c.1572, also called Janet or Jehannet, inherited his father's position, serving as court painter successively under Francis I, Henry II, Francis II, and Charles IX. His work is notable for its clarity and precision of draughtsmanship. He enjoyed a high reputation and was patronized by many notables of the court. Attributed to him are two portraits of Francis (Uffizi; Louvre); portraits of Catherine de' Medici (Versailles), Elizabeth of Austria (Louvre), and Charles IX (Vienna); and one thought to be of Diane de Poitiers (called Lady in Her Bath, National Gall. of Art, Washington, D.C.). There are also a large number of portrait drawings preserved in Chantilly and in the Bibliothèque nationale and the Cabinet des Estampes, Paris.

Bibliography: See his complete drawings, miniatures, and paintings, ed. by P. Mellen (1971).