France: Notable Artists and their Art

1000s - Anonymous: The Mouth of Hell, The Last Judgement (All Facts)

• Located at the Abbey Church of St. Foy

1000s - Bayeux Tapestry (All Facts)

• Tapestry which depicts the Battle of Hastings and Norman Conquest of England in multiple scenes, by William the Conqueror (Duke of Normandy)

• It is 70 meters long

• It is located in the namesake cathedral in Normandy in France which it was sewn for, however, it was probably sewn in England during the reign of William the Conqueror

1115 - 1135 - Gislebertus (All Facts)

• French Sculptor

1115 - 1135 - Gislebertus: The Last Judgement / Apocalypse (All Facts)

1288 - 1318 - Master Honore (All Facts)

• French Secular Artist based in Paris whose work flowed from and represented the Paris School of Manuscript Illumination

• He produced Gothic-era illuminated manuscripts for the French monarchy, particularly King Philip IV of France

1415 - Paul, Johan, and Herman Limbourg: Très Riches Heures (All Facts)

• Commissioned by John, the Duke of Berry

• It featured many miniature paintings and joined other fine “books of hours” in the namesake duke’s well-stocked library

1415 - Paul, Johan, and Herman Limbourg: Tres Belles Heures (All Facts)

• Commissioned by John, the Duke of Berry

• It featured many miniature paintings and joined other fine “books of hours” in the namesake duke’s well-stocked library

1485 - 1541 - Jean Clouet (All Facts)

• French Painter

• He served as court painter of France

• He trained his son, who succeeded him as court painter

1510 - 1572 - Francois Clouet (All Facts)

• French Painter

• He was trained by his father

• He served as court painter for and thus painted portraits of

  • King Francis

  • King Henry II

  • King Francis II

  • King Charles IX

1571 - Francois Clouet: A Lady in Her Bath (All Facts)

1533 - 1588 - Jacques Le Moyne (All Facts)

• French Painter

• He lived with the Huguenots at Fort Caroline until it was destroyed by the Spanish

• His paintings served as the basis for Theodore de Bry’s illustrates in his “Voyages” series

1592 - 1635 - Jacques Callot (All Facts)

• French Baroque Printmaker and Engraver

1633 - Jacques Callot: The Miseries of War / Les Misères de la Guerre (All Facts)

• Series of eighteen etchings consisting of graphic scenes of suffering in the Thirty Years’ War

• They are considered the first “anti-war statement” in the history of European art

1633 - Jacques Callot: The Hanging / La Pendaison (All Facts)

1590 - 1649 - Simon Vouet (All Facts)

• French Painter

• He was court painter to King Louis XIII

• His almost-classicist style was enormously influential

• His studio trained many young artists of the time

• His great rival was his former pupil, Nicholas Poussin

1594 - 1665 - Nicholas Poussin (All Facts)

• French Painter

• His work made him a major figure in French Classicism

• He died in Rome, where he spent most of his life

1638 - Nicholas Poussin: The Shepherds of Arcadia / Et in Arcadia Ego (All Facts)

1660 - Nicholas Poussin: The Four Seasons (All Facts)

• Cycle of paintings made for the Duke of Richelieu at the time

1602 - 1674 - Philippe de Champaigne (All Facts)

• French Painter

• He was the court painter for Cardinal Richelieu and King Louis XIII

• He was the church painter for the Sorbonne Chapel (University of Paris)

• He was linked with the Jansenist movement

• His later serious and austere compositions led him to be considered the most eminent representative of French Classicism

• Pictured is one of his 11 portraits of Richelieu

1604 - 1676 - Abraham Bosse (All Facts)

• French Engraver and Art Theorist

• He was expelled from the Royal Academy of Art after a dispute with Charles Lebrun on the subject of perspective

1600 - 1677 - The Le Nain Brothers: Antoine, Louis, and Mathieu Le Nain (All Facts)

• French Painters who were brothers

• They were received into the French Royal Academy of the Arts

• The subjects of their paintings were quite different from the mythological and allegorical topics in vogue amongst their contemporaries, having painted scenes of humbler life instead

1643 - The Le Nain Brothers: Boys Playing Cards (All Facts)

1641 - The Le Nain Brothers: Venus at the Forge (All Facts)

The Le Nain Brothers: The Peasants’ Meal (All Facts)

1600 - 1682 - Claude Lorrain (All Facts)

• French Painter

  • His real name was Gellee, but he was always known after his home province

  • He was friends with and compatriot to Nicholas Poussin

  • He lived, worked, and died in Rome

• He liked to sketch direct from nature in the Campagna countryside outside Rome, littered with the remains of Roman architecture

  • However, his ideal mythological landscapes were always imaginary

• He was known for his landscapes and was (is) considered one of the greatest of the French landscape painters

  • He was famed for his mastery of light effects, even being able to depict the rising or setting sun illuminating his landscapes convincingly

1675 - Claude Lorrain: The Arrival of Aeneas at Pallanteum (All Facts)

1619 - 1690 - Charles Lebrun (All Facts)

• French Painter and Art Theorist and Teacher

• He designed the tapestries and furnishings of the chateau that was the Palace of Versailles

  • These were made at the Gobelins factory

1670 - Charles Lebrun: Hall of Mirrors, Ceiling (All Facts)

1689 - 1712 - Jean Tijou (All Facts)

• French Ironworker

  • He was Huguenot

• He worked on St. Paul’s Cathedral’s sanctuary’s wrought-iron gates

1684 - 1721 - Jean-Antoine Watteau (All Facts)

• French (Early) Rococo Painter

• He was best remembered for his palace-garden landscapes that form the typical background to many of his pictures

• He died of tuberculosis, which he had suffered all his life