Last half of 1400s—Renaissance Period
Although architecture, sculpture, and interior decoration reached a high degree of sophistication during the early Renaissance period, not many painters were active in France, and most of those were anonymous or nearly unknown.
Jean Fouquet is one of the few artists from that period whose reputation lives on. He developed the International Gothic style, which incorporated the Flemish influence as well as the innovations of the Italian early Renaissance artists.
 |
| Jean Fouquet, c. 1415-20 to 1478-81 Charles VII of France, 1403-1461 Photo by Dan L. Smith |
1500s—late Renaissance and Mannerism
Francis I, who reigned from 1515 to 1547, was an enthusiastic patron of the arts who was impressed by the art of Renaissance Italy. He founded the royal art collection by patronizing Italian artists. He even invited Leonardo da Vinci to spend his final years in France, in a small chateau belonging to the royal family in Amboise. Providing Leonardo a home was an important symbolic gesture. The next image, painted much later, symbolizes the reverence of Francis I for the Renaissance master.
 |
| Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1780-1867 Francis I Receiving Leonardo da Vinci's Last Breath |
School of Fontainebleau
Francis I, who turned the Louvre into a Renaissance palace, also rebuilt and expanded the Château de Fontainebleau, his favorite residence, which is located in a large forest not far from Paris. He invited Florentine artist Rosso Fiorentino to supervise a group of Italian artists on an extensive decorative program. These artists created works of art for other noble families as well. Their Italianate style is known as the School of Fontainebleau.
By far the most famous painting attributed to "School of Fontainebleau"—and a humorous way to open our history—is this image of two sisters sharing a bath. The woman on the right is meant to be Gabrielle d'Estrées, the mistress of King Henry IV. One of her sisters is pinching her right breast. This gesture has often been taken as symbolizing the latter's pregnancy with the king's illegitimate child.
 |
| School of Fontainebleau, 1530-1610 Portrait of Gabrielle d'Estrées and One of Her Sisters, 1594 |
 |
| School of Fontainebleau, 1530-1610 Toilette of Venus Photo by Dan L. Smith |
 |
| School of Fontainebleau, 1530-1610 Mythological Allegory, c. 1580 |
A few days after visiting the Louvre, Dan and I actually drove out to Fontainebleau and toured the Château so that we could see its art in place. Here's a link for my article on that day: Château de Fontainebleau
1600s—The Baroque Period
The 1600s saw an impressive flowering of painting in France, and several artists rose to fame, including Simon Vouet, Georges de La Tour, Nicolas Poussin, Claude Lorrain, and Philippe de Champaigne.
Simon Vouet spent a lot of time in Italy from 1613 to 1627. He absorbed the techniques of Italian artists: Caravaggio's dramatic lighting, Bronzino's Mannerist exaggeration, Veronese's color and foreshortened perspective, and the clear light of Guido Reni. Vouet was an immense success in Rome, and when he returned to France following a summons by the king, he brought the Italian Baroque style with him. In Paris he became the dominant force in French painting.
This example shows the naturalistic influence of Caravaggio on Vouet's work.
 |
| Simon Vouet, 1590-1649 Saint Guillaume d’Aquitaine, 1627 |
 |
| Simon Vouet, 1590-1649 Allegory of Wealth, 1630-35 |
 |
| Simon Vouet, 1590-1649 The Virgin with the Oak Branch, c. 1645 |
Georges de La Tour was strongly influenced by Caravaggio. He is best known for his nocturnal light effects with high contrast lighting, such as this one. The painting below depicts Mary Magdalene, who became a follower of Jesus after he cast out her seven demons; she is often shown contemplating her sins, and her death.
 |
| Georges de La Tour, 1593-1652 Magdalene with the Smoking Flame, c. 1640 |
 |
| Georges de La Tour, 1593-1652 The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds, 1635 |
Nicolas Poussin was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style; he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works are religious or mythological subjects with a large landscape element. Here's a placid and harmonious scene of John the Baptist administering the holy sacrament to Jesus. All the possible reactions are depicted: a few women on the right look on curiously, a few men on the left are skeptical, in the foreground a few men are preparing to follow Jesus' example, and a mother is preparing to have her child blessed. But who's the guy on the horse?
 |
| Nicolas Poussin, 1594-1650 Saint John Baptising the People, 1636 |
 |
| Nicolas Poussin, 1594-1650 Rape of the Sabines, c. 1638 |
Claude Lorrain is another Baroque painter who spent most of his life in Italy. His works generally depict a landscape with structures, strong daylight effects, and some sort of mythological story. He had a great deal of influence on the development of landscape painting.
 |
| Claude Lorrain, c. 1602-1682 Embarkation of Ulysses, 1646 |
Philippe de Champaigne was a Baroque painter who, although he was born in Belgium, worked in France most of his life and developed a French style of painting. He was the only artist who was allowed to paint Richelieu enrobed as a cardinal, which he did eleven times.
 |
| Philippe de Champaigne, 1602-1674 Cardinal Richelieu, c. 1639 |
 |
| Philippe de Champaigne, 1602-1674 The Last Supper, c. 1652 |
Humorous Footnote
This humorous painting is totally unusual for any artist in any period. The two men forming the arch of opposed forms in the center foreground are "cabmen": their cabs are two-wheeled carts, like rickshaws, that they pull themselves. They appear to be arguing about who has the right of way, while their passengers, in fantastical costumes are egging them on. A cleric looks on and tries to bring peace to the situation.
 |
| Claude Gillot, 1673-1722 Cabmen’s Dispute, c. 1707 |
Early 1700s—Rococo
In the first half of the 1700s, French painters pulled away from the Italian influence and developed a strictly French style, called Rococo. The Rococo style of painting was marked by asymmetry, pastel colors, and light-hearted subjects such as festivals, theater scenes, mythological narratives, and the female nude. The accent is on the decorative and pleasant aspect of the scenes depicted. The important painters in this style were Antoine Watteau, Jean-Siméon Chardin, François Boucher, and Jean-Honoré Fragonard.
Antoine Watteau is credited with inventing the genre of fêtes galantes: scenes of bucolic and idyllic charm, suffused with an air of theatricality. In the painting below, Cythera is a mythical island of love; some couples are arriving, some leaving, some cavorting.
 |
| Jean-Antoine Watteau, 1684-1721 Pilgrimage to the Isle of Cythera, 1717 |
 |
| Jean-Antoine Watteau, 1684-1721 Pierrot, c. 1719 |
Jean-Siméon Chardin lived during the age of Rococo, but his work has a totally different look. Instead of painting society people having fun, he generally painted ordinary people—mothers, children, servants—and instead of being pastel and frivolous, his style was sober and restrained. Instead of frolicking in the country, his characters are going about their business in dark interiors. He was particularly good with young people amusing themselves. The first boy is playing with a top instead of studying; it is a stiff society that makes kids wear powdered wigs. The older boy in the second example is sharpening his drawing implement.
 |
| Jean-Siméon Chardin, 1699-1779 Child with a Top, 1738 |
 |
| Jean-Siméon Chardin, 1699-1779 The Young Draughtsman, c. 1737 |
 |
| Jean-Siméon Chardin, 1699-1779 Saying Grace, c. 1740 |
François Boucher was the most rococo of Rococo painters. Most of his famous work is pure confection. This next painting shows a beautiful woman who has been seduced by the beauty of a white bull, the form that Zeus has taken in order to carry her away. One doesn't like to think about what might happen next.
 |
| François Boucher, 1703-1770 The Rape of Europa, 1747 |
 |
| François Boucher, 1703-1770 Vulcan’s Forge, 1757 |
Jean-Honoré Fragonard was an extremely prolific and versatile artist. In 1769, Fragonard painted fourteen "fanciful figures," eight of which are now in the Louvre. He started with the likeness of a real person, but he romanticized the image to express a particular emotion or characteristic. These may be compared to the fantastical portraits of Rembrandt and other Dutch painters in the 1600s. Fanciful portraits became all the rage. This next painting depicts a woman who was a musician and composer.
 |
| Jean-Honoré Fragonard, 1732-1806 Fantasy Figure: Anne-Louise Brillon de Jouy, c. 1769 |
Late 1700s—Neo-classicism
As a natural reaction to the frivolousness of Rococo painting, artists started looking once again toward Rome, both for subjects and styles. The major artists of the period were Hubert Robert, Jacques-Louis David, Élisabeth Vigée LeBrun, and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, whose work extended into the 1800s.
Hubert Robert went to Rome in 1754 and spent eleven years there. He worked for a time in the studio of Pannini, who was very much interested in Roman ruins. When he returned to Paris, he quickly became a success as the premier painter of Roman ruins, which were trendy at the time. This painting shows a Roman aqueduct. Some years ago Captain Dan and I walked along the top of this structure, over 450 feet above the Gard River in southern France.
 |
| Hubert Robert, 1733-1808 The Pont du Gard, 1787 |
 |
| Hubert Robert, 1733-1808 View of the Grand Gallery of the Louvre, 1796 |
 |
| Hubert Robert, 1733-1808 Imaginary View of the Grande Galerie du Louvre in Ruins, 1796 |
Jacques-Louis David was a giant of the Neoclassical style, a style than tended toward austerity and severity, balanced composition, invisible brushstrokes, and firm contours. He revived interest in grand paintings showing historical or mythological scenes. This example could be called the ultimate Neoclassical painting. It illustrates a Roman legend about a conflict between the Romans and a rival group from a nearby town. Rather than continue a full-scale war, they elect representative combatants to settle their dispute. The Romans select the sons of Horatius. Their father is holding up their swords and they are swearing to "Conquer or Die." Contrasting with this show of loyalty and courage is the sorrow of the women in their family. To make the story more poignant, one of the sisters is betrothed to one of the three brothers representing their enemy, so she stands to lose no matter what the outcome. The moralistic tone and the noble presentation made this painting a great hit at the time, and it was highly influential on the future of painting.
 |
| Jacques-Louis David, 1748-1825 The Oath of the Horatii, c. 1784 |
 |
| Jacques-Louis David, 1748-1825 The Death of Marat, 1794 |
 |
| Jacques-Louis David, 1748-1825 The Intervention of the Sabines, 1799 |
 |
| Jacques-Louis David, 1748-1825 Portrait of Antoine Mongez and his Wife, Angélique, 1812 |
 |
| Jacques-Louis David, 1748-1825 Madame Raymond de Verninac, 1799 |
 |
| Jacques-Louis David, 1748-1825 Madame Récamier, 1800 |
 |
| Jacques-Louis David, 1748-1825 Self-Portrait, 1794 |
Late 1700s—The Rise of Women Artists
One marvelous aspect of the late 1700s is that several women artists created successful careers. Although they were popular in their time, after their deaths, their work was long neglected or attributed to male artists, typically their teachers. In recent decades, new research has re-discovered these women and gradually corrected the attribution of their paintings. The Louvre was showing work by three of them: Anne Vallayer-Coster, Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, and Adélaïde Labille-Guiard.
Anne Vallayer-Coster was admitted to the Royal Academy in 1770, at the age of 26, a real ground-breaker. She was best known for her paintings of flowers. Here's an exercise that shows off her ability to define form and space. I made special note of this talented painter because it is the first time I had heard of her.
 |
| Anne Vallayer-Coster, 1744-1818 Attributes of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, 1769 |
Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun was a big star of portrait painting in her own time, and continues to be very popular. She was very prolific, and her work may be seen in many museums. All of her work was portraiture for royal or aristocratic patrons, and she generally idealized and romanticized their image. She excelled at concocting colorful costumes, and her ability to convey the texture of fabric was uncanny. Her sweet palette and light touch relate her work to the Rococo style, but her figures have the solidity, the clear light, and the traditional poses of Neoclassical portraiture.
 |
| Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, 1755-1842 Portrait of Madame Molé-Reymond, 1786 |
 |
| Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, 1755-1842 Portrait of Madame Rousseau and her son, 1789 |
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard was admitted to the Royal Academy in 1783, on the same day as Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, and she also specialized in portraits of royals and aristocrats. For a long time she was considered less talented than Vigée-Lebrun, but she was more versatile and truer to reality, so esteem for her work is growing. Her skill is very convincingly demonstrated in this portrait of her teacher.
 |
| Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, 1749-1803 François-André Vincent, c. 1795 |
 |
| François-André Vincent, 1746-1816 Zeuxis Choosing his Models for the Image of Helen, 1789 |
Early 1800s—Neoclassicism continues
The last important Neoclassical painter was Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, a student of David, an admirer of Raphael, and a guardian of cultural conservatism. All his life, he moved back and forth between Paris and Rome. He believed in the supremacy of line and form over color, and he was devoted to a search for ideal beauty. He considered himself a history painter in the tradition of Poussin and David, but he became the most sought-after portraitist in France, and his portraits are now considered his greatest legacy.
Here are is a pair of his portraits, depicting a husband and wife. Although they are undeniably Neoclassical in style, their nonchalant poses, their direct gaze, and their sense of entitlement make them look more modern.
 |
| Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1780-1867 Madame Rivière, 1806 |
 |
| Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1780-1867 Philibert Rivière, c. 1805 |
 |
| Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1780-1867 The Bather, 1808 |
 |
| Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1780-1867 The Turkish Bath, 1862 |
Early 1800s—Romanticism
While Ingres was pushing Neo-classicism to extremes, Romanticism was becoming the dominant trend in all the arts. Romanticism was about action and emotion, imagination and individual expression; Romanticists abandoned reason and order as guiding aesthetic principles. The foremost French Romantic painters were Théodore Géricault and Eugène Delacroix.
Théodore Géricault was a pioneer of the Romantic movement. Although he died young, his work was very influential. His first major work was a big success.
 |
| Théodore Géricault, 1791-1824 The Charging Chasseur, c. 1812 |
 |
| Théodore Géricault, 1791-1824 The Raft of the Medusa, 1819 |
 |
| Eugène Delacroix, 1798-1863 Liberty Leading the People, 1831 |
 |
| Eugène Delacroix, 1798-1863 Women of Algiers, 1834 |
 |
| Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973 Women of Algiers, 1934 Internet grab |
In contrast with all that drama and exoticism, the Romantic era also ushered in a new interest in landscape for its own sake. Previously, landscape had been primarily an imagined setting for a historical or mythological scene, as exemplified in France by Poussin. But in the early 1800s, people got interested in nature, and artists began painting landscapes that were based on real places, places they had seen themselves.
Camille Corot was an important pioneer of landscape painting in France. Although his paintings were generally finished in the studio, they were based on sketches he made out of doors. The scenes frequently included some architecture that identifies the location. In the serene and harmonious views he created, with their restrained or muted colors, his work relates back to Neo-classicism, but with his outdoor studies, his careful observation of natural light, and his experimental brushstrokes, he is considered an early influence on Impressionism.
His manner of handling paint went through various phases. Early on, his subjects look quite solid and real.
 |
| Camille Corot, 1796-1875 Chartres Cathedral, 1830 |
 |
| Camille Corot, 1796-1875 The Church at Marissel, 1866 |
 |
| Camille Corot, 1796-1875 Velléda, c. 1870 |
Conclusion
First with the Rococo style and later with Neo-classicism, the French dominated the history of painting in the 1700s and the first half of the 1800s. With his interest in landscape painting, his working outdoors, and his atmospheric style, Corot was a transition artist, preparing the way for Impressionism. Impressionist paintings are not exhibited at the Louvre, but at the Orsay Museum. We'll get there in a few days.
