FRANÇOIS CLOUET
Towards the end of his life Jean Clouet was assisted in the execution of his numerous commissions by his brother Clouet de Navarre, to whom is attributed the Portrait of Louis de Saint-Gelais, Lord of Lansac, Captain of one of the “Compagnies des cent Gentilshommes” under Charles IX. (No. 134), and by his son François Clouet (1500?–1572). It has been stated that François Clouet, who was to become after his father’s death the favourite portrait painter of François i., Henri ii., Catherine de Médicis, François ii., and Charles ix., was born at Tours; but it is far more likely that he too was born in the Netherlands, and, while still young, accompanied his father to France. Practically nothing is known of his life before the year 1541, when François i. renounced to Clouet his kingly right to the artist’s inheritance, which could have been claimed by the Crown as the estate of a foreigner. In the same year François Clouet was appointed Groom of the Chamber and Painter-in-Ordinary to the King.
The Louvre is fortunate in possessing one of the exceedingly rare signed pictures by this artist in the Portrait of Pierre Quthe (No. 127a), which was found in Vienna a few years ago by M. Moreau-Nélaton and presented to the Gallery by that active and patriotic institution, the Société des Amis du Louvre. Pierre Quthe was a notable burgher and apothecary of Paris, who owned one of the finest gardens in that city. He was an intimate friend and neighbour of François Clouet in the rue St. Avoye. In the Louvre painting, which bears in the left-hand bottom corner the inscription
FR. IANETII OPVS
E. QUTTO AMICO SINGVLARI
AETATIS SVE XLIII 1562
he is depicted three-quarter-length life size, dressed in a doublet of black velvet with lace insertions, with a herbarium. The picture hangs at present on a screen in Gallery XV.
Another unquestionably authentic work is the charming Portrait of Elizabeth of Austria, Wife of Charles IX. (No. 130), of which a preparatory study in chalk, dated 1571, is to be found in the Paris Print Cabinet. The face is drawn and modelled with rare delicacy, and every detail of the richly jewelled gold brocade costume is rendered with faultless and miniature-like precision.
Yet another precious little picture from the same hand is the small three-quarter-length Portrait of Charles IX., King of France (No. 128), which is a reduced replica of the signed life-size version in the Vienna Museum. Both pictures were originally in Vienna, whence they were removed by Napoleon in 1809, but only the larger picture was taken back to the Austrian capital in 1815.
The Portrait of Claude de Beaune (No. 133a) is possibly another, though not very important, work from the master’s own brush; but neither the Portrait of François de Lorraine, Duc de Guise (No. 131), nor the Portrait of Henri II., King of France (No. 129), are of sufficient merit to justify their attribution to François Clouet; whilst the portraits of Charles IX. (No. 132) and Elizabeth of Austria (No. 133) are frankly admitted to be copies after originals by the master.