Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet (Rouen, 1644 - Paris, 1717), known as "the Great", was a French painter and decorator best known for his religious works. Some sources give 1649 as his year of birth. He came from an artistic family, and his career unfolded in the France of Louis XIV, within the circle of Charles Le Brun.
He first trained with his father, Laurent Jouvenet. After moving to Paris in 1661 he joined Le Brun's studio and took part in decorative schemes at the château of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the Galerie des Tuileries, the Salon de Mars at Versailles, the dome of Les Invalides and the gallery of the Royal Chapel at Versailles. In 1675 he became a member of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, where he was elected professor in 1681 and served as director from 1705 to 1708.
His early works follow the classicism of his master and of Eustache Le Sueur. Over time he added Baroque traits and a realistic treatment of detail. For The Miraculous Draught of Fishes (1706), now in the Louvre, he studied the work of fishermen at Dieppe. Together with The Raising of Lazarus, also in the Louvre, it secured his reputation. The art historian Anthony Blunt saw echoes of Poussin and Le Sueur in his manner, along with compositions planned as high reliefs and sharp diagonals.
Alongside Charles de La Fosse, he is considered one of the most accomplished artists in the decoration of the Trianon and Les Invalides. His naturalism sets him apart from much of the religious painting of his time, and his works are held in French collections, including the Louvre and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen.
Works (8)
Painted in 1699 by Jean Jouvenet, this religious work is done in oil on canvas and is now held at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Its title refers to the education of the Virgin Mary, a moment from her childhood. The available information does not clarify who commissioned it or how the figures are arranged, so the painting itself is the best guide.
The Miraculous Draught is a large religious canvas by Jean Jouvenet, painted in 1706 and held at the Louvre. Its title points to the Gospel episode of the miraculous catch of fish, in which Christ urges the fishermen to cast their nets again. Among its elements is a sailing ship, which gives the sacred scene a maritime setting.
Jean Jouvenet painted this large religious composition in 1697, an oil on canvas of monumental size showing the moment when the body of Jesus of Nazareth is taken down from the cross. The scene is organised around the lifeless body, with the figures holding it forming a diagonal that guides the viewer's eye toward the centre of the canvas. Without further reference sources, its wider significance within French painting of the period cannot be stated in detail.
Large religious canvas dated 1706. Its title points to a meal at Simon's house, a scene from the Gospels, and its monumental size suggests a composition with many figures and a broad setting. The available information does not clarify the commission or the circumstances in which the painter, Jean Jouvenet, produced it.
History painting by Jean Jouvenet, dated 1690, showing Louis XIV touching a sufferer of scrofula, as its French title states. In this oil on canvas, the king and the patient form the central gesture of the scene. The composition revolves around that physical contact, which gives the whole image its meaning as a solemn royal act.
Portrait of a man identified as the physician Raymond Finot, painted by Jean Jouvenet in 1700 in oil on canvas and now held at the Louvre. The sitter is shown wearing a cravat. Available sources do not clarify the commission or the circumstances of its making, so the reading focuses on the sitter's professional identity and the formal character of the portrait.
Painted in 1716 by Jean Jouvenet, this religious work depicts the meeting of the Virgin Mary and Saint Elizabeth, the scene known as the Visitation and drawn from the Gospel of Luke. Executed in oil on canvas on a large scale, it is held in the Louvre, where its considerable dimensions are immediately striking.
Where to see the work
- Louvre Museum Paris · 5
- Uffizi Gallery Florence · 1
- Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture · 1
Teachers and pupils
Studied with
- Charles Le Brun 1619–1690
Pupils
- Nicolas Bertin 1667–1736
- Jean Restout 1692–1768
Curiosities
A rediscovered drawing
A graphite study on blue paper, Darius and Alexander, dated to around 1670, prepared a canvas that King Louis XIV offered to the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris in 1674. The drawing was rediscovered in 2006 by Alain Béjard and Dimitri Joannidès of the Alicem Institute in Luxembourg. It offers a rare glimpse of Jouvenet's working process, since few preparatory sheets from his early period survive to show how he built his compositions.
Painting with the left hand
During the last four years of his life, paralysis forced him to work with his left hand. Despite this limitation, he continued producing works until shortly before his death in Paris on 5 April 1717. The case shows how dependent large-scale painting was on the physical stamina of the artist and on his ability to adapt his technique to bodily constraints.
A possible teacher of Poussin
His grandfather, Noël Jouvenet, may have taught Nicolas Poussin, although this is considered probable rather than documented with certainty. The family thus had a link, well before Jean-Baptiste, to one of the great names of seventeenth-century French painting. This connection helps explain the blend of classicism and tradition visible in his work.