Francois Clouet Painting Reproductions 4 of 4

c.1510-1572

French Mannerist Painter

Francois Clouet (c. 1510 – 22 December 1572) son of Jean Clouet, was a French Renaissance miniaturist and painter, particularly known for his detailed portraits of the French ruling family.

Clouet was born in Tours.
The earliest reference to him is a document dated December 1541, in which the king renounces for the benefit of Francois his father's estate, which had escheated to the crown as the estate of a foreigner. In this document, the younger Clouet is said to have followed his father very closely in his art. Like his father, he held the office of groom of the chamber and painter in ordinary to the king, and so far as salary is concerned, he started where his father left off. Many drawings are attributed to this artist, often without perfect certainty. There is, however, more to go upon than there is in the case of his father.

As the praises of Francois Clouet were sung by the writers of the day, his name was carefully preserved from reign to reign, and there is an ancient and unbroken tradition in the attribution of many of his pictures. There are not, however, any original attestations of his works, nor are any documents known which would guarantee the ascriptions usually accepted. To him are attributed the portraits of Francis I at the Uffizi and at the Louvre, and various drawings relating to them. He probably also painted the portrait of Catherine de Medici at Versailles and other works, and in all probability a large number of the drawings ascribed to him were from his hand. One of his most remarkable portraits is that of Mary, queen of Scots, a drawing in chalks in the Bibliotheque Nationale, and of similar character are the two portraits of Charles IX and the one at Chantilly of Marguerite of France. Perhaps his masterpiece is the portrait of Elizabeth of Austria in the Louvre.

He resided in Paris in the rue de Ste Avoye in the Temple quarter, close to the Hotel de Guise, and in 1568 is known to have been under the patronage of Claude Gouffier de Boisy, Seigneur d'Oiron, and his wife Claude de Baune. Another ascertained fact concerning Francois Clouet is that in 1571 he was summoned to the office of the Court of the Mint, and his opinion was taken on the likeness to the king of a portrait struck by the mint. He prepared the death-mask of Henry II, as in 1547 he had taken a similar mask of the face and hands of Francis I., in order that the effigy to be used at the funeral might be prepared from his drawings; and on each of these occasions he executed the painting to be used in the decorations of the church and the banners for the great ceremony.

Several miniatures are believed to be his work, one very remarkable portrait being the half-length figure of Henry II in the collection of J. Pierpont Morgan. Another of his portraits is that of the duc d'Alencon in the Jones collection at South Kensington, and certain representations of members of the royal family which were in the Hamilton Palace collection and the Magniac sale are usually ascribed to him. He died on the 22nd of December 1572, shortly after the massacre of St Bartholomew, and his will, mentioning his sister and his two illegitimate daughters, and dealing with the disposition of a considerable amount of property, is still in existence. His daughters subsequently became nuns.

His work is remarkable for the extreme accuracy of the drawing, the elaborate finish of all the details, and the exquisite completeness of the whole portrait. He must have been a man of high intelligence, and of great penetration, intensely interested in his work, and with considerable ability to represent the character of his sitter in his portraits. His coloring is perhaps not specially remarkable, nor from the point of style can his pictures be considered especially beautiful, but in perfection of drawing he has hardly any equal.

86 Francois Clouet Paintings

Portrait of Jean de Brosse duc d'Etampes, c.1540 by Francois Clouet | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of Jean de Brosse duc d'Etampes c.1540

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: CLF-5946
Francois Clouet
Original Size: unknown
Musee Conde, Chantilly, France

Mary, Queen of Scots in White Mourning, 1560 by Francois Clouet | Painting Reproduction

Mary, Queen of Scots in White Mourning 1560

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: CLF-5947
Francois Clouet
Original Size: unknown
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France

Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, c.1510 by Francois Clouet | Painting Reproduction

Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam c.1510

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: CLF-5948
Francois Clouet
Original Size: unknown
Musee Conde, Chantilly, France

Louis Charles de Bourbon Comte de Marle, 1555 by Francois Clouet | Painting Reproduction

Louis Charles de Bourbon Comte de Marle 1555

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: CLF-5949
Francois Clouet
Original Size: unknown
Musee Conde, Chantilly, France

Louis de Chandio Lord of Bussy, c.1520 by Francois Clouet | Painting Reproduction

Louis de Chandio Lord of Bussy c.1520

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: CLF-5950
Francois Clouet
Original Size: unknown
Musee Conde, Chantilly, France

Henri I de Bourbon Prince de Conde, n.d. by Francois Clouet | Painting Reproduction

Henri I de Bourbon Prince de Conde n.d.

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: CLF-5951
Francois Clouet
Original Size: unknown
Musee Conde, Chantilly, France

Francoise de Longwy wife of Philippe Chapot, Seigneur de Brion, c.1535 by Francois Clouet | Painting Reproduction

Francoise de Longwy wife of Philippe Chapot, ... c.1535

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: CLF-5952
Francois Clouet
Original Size: unknown
Musee Conde, Chantilly, France

Portrait of an Unknown Lady, n.d. by Francois Clouet | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of an Unknown Lady n.d.

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: CLF-5953
Francois Clouet
Original Size: unknown
Musee Conde, Chantilly, France

Portrait of the Duke of Albany John Stewart, c.1525 by Francois Clouet | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of the Duke of Albany John Stewart c.1525

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: CLF-5954
Francois Clouet
Original Size: unknown
Musee Conde, Chantilly, France

Portrait of King Charles IX of France, 1566 by Francois Clouet | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of King Charles IX of France 1566

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: CLF-5955
Francois Clouet
Original Size: 33.5 x 22.6 cm
The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

Portrait of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland at the Age of Nine, July 1552 by Francois Clouet | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland at the ... July 1552

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: CLF-5956
Francois Clouet
Original Size: unknown
Musee Conde, Chantilly, France

Diane de Poitiers Duchess of Valentinois, n.d. by Francois Clouet | Painting Reproduction

Diane de Poitiers Duchess of Valentinois n.d.

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: CLF-5957
Francois Clouet
Original Size: unknown
Musee Conde, Chantilly, France

Jean de Poitiers Lord of Saint-Vallier, n.d. by Francois Clouet | Painting Reproduction

Jean de Poitiers Lord of Saint-Vallier n.d.

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: CLF-5958
Francois Clouet
Original Size: unknown
Musee Conde, Chantilly, France

Diane de Poitiers Duchess of Valentinois, c.1555 by Francois Clouet | Painting Reproduction

Diane de Poitiers Duchess of Valentinois c.1555

Paper Art Print
$47.83
SKU: CLF-5959
Francois Clouet
Original Size: unknown
Musee Conde, Chantilly, France

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