Jacques Courtois
Jacques Courtois (French pronunciation: [ʒak kuʁtwa]) or Giacomo Cortese, called il Borgognone or le Bourguignon[1] (12 ?December 1621 – 14 November 1676) was a Franche-Comtois–Italian painter, draughtsman, and etcher.
[2] Jacques Courtois was born in Saint-Hippolyte, near Besançon (Franche-Comté) in present-day France, but at the time, a Spanish possession in Holy Roman Empire.
According to early Italian biographer Filippo Baldinucci Courtois' talent got noticed in Bologna by prominent painters Guido Reni and Francesco Albani.
He went to Rome around 1639-1640 where he initially was permitted to live in the monastery of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Milan through the intercession of the abbot Don Ilarione Rancati.
The abbot also was instrumental in securing Courtois' first official commissions, a large fresco of the miracle of the loaves and fishes in the refectory of the monastery (1641).
[6] The style of genre painting practiced by Pieter van Laer was followed by other Northern and Italian painters.
After the death of his wife in 1654, Jacques Courtois had to deal with the family property and provide dowries for two of his sisters who were Ursuline nuns in Fribourg, Switzerland.
[2] He spent time in Bergamo, as is documented by the altarpiece with Madonna and Saints in the parish church of Villa d'Adda, signed and dated 1656.
Sagredo commissioned Courtois to paint two lunettes above the side doors in the church of St. Mark as well as sacred stories in the gallery.
[4] Passing through Padua and Bologna, Courtois returned to Florence in 1656 to work in the service of Prince Mattias de' Medici, who took him back to Siena.
Draw from his own firsthand experience of wartime facts and techniques, he succeeded in giving his visual representations the impression of 'truthfulness'.
They also aimed to allow the viewer to witness the whole range of drama played out in a battle, from the brilliance of individual maneuvres and actions to the bloody consequences to the participants.
An example of these skills can be seen in the Battle scene with infantry, cavalry and cannon, a fortress and a city beyond (At Christie's on 7 July 2009 in London, lot 27).
[4] The fiery battle scenes of Salvator Rosa possibly left a mark in his more painterly touch and darker colours.
[13] His sketch-books (London British Museum, and Florence, Gallerie Uffizi) demonstrate his acute ability to capture in quick sketches the movements and the dynamics of troops, while using compositional schemes, which were derived from the work of Jacques Callot.
[11] In 1647 Courtois was one of the artists who contributed illustrations to the second volume of "De Bello Belgico", a work by his fellow Jesuit Famiano Strada's.
