Jean Fouquet

[1] A master of panel painting and manuscript illumination, and the apparent inventor of the portrait miniature, he is considered one of the most important painters from the period between the late Gothic and early Renaissance.

[1] He worked for the French court, including Charles VII, the treasurer Étienne Chevalier, and the chancellor Guillaume Jouvenel des Ursins.

Fouquet's excellence as an illuminator, his precision in the rendering of the finest detail, and his power of clear characterization in work on this minute scale secured his eminent position in French art.

His importance as a painter was demonstrated when his portraits and altarpieces were for the first time brought together from various parts of Europe for the exhibition of the "French Primitives" held at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.

Fouquet also illuminated a copy of the Grandes Chroniques de France, for an unknown patron, thought to be either Charles VII or someone else at the royal court.

The right wing shows a pale Virgin and Child surrounded by red and blue angels and is now at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp.

Jean Fouquet, self-portrait (1450); the earliest portrait miniature , and possibly the earliest formal self-portrait [ a ]
Left wing of the Melun Diptych depicts Etienne Chevalier with his patron saint St. Stephen , ( c. 1452-1458 ) Gemäldegalerie , Berlin.
Right wing of Melun Diptych ; Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels , showing Charles VII's mistress Agnès Sorel ( c. 1452-1458 ), oil on wood, 93 x 85 cm, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp , Antwerp.