Jacquemart de Hesdin
Encyclopedia
Jacquemart de Hesdin was a French
miniature
painter
working in the International Gothic
style. In English, he is also called Jacquemart of Hesdin. During his lifetime, his name was spelt in a number of ways, including as Jacquemart de Odin.
. Hesdin
, the town from which he took his name, was a fortified citadel
in the Pas-de-Calais, then part of Flanders
and a stronghold of the Dukes of Burgundy
. It is possible that Jacquemart was born there. He was one of the many Netherlandish
artists who worked for members of the French royal family from about the middle of the fourteenth century.
Jacquemart's only known patron, John, Duke of Berry
(1340–1416), was a younger brother of King Charles V of France
. When Charles V died in 1380, his son Charles VI
was a minor, so Berry and his brothers Louis I of Anjou, King of Naples
(1339–1384) and Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy
(1342–1404), acted as regent
s of France until 1388. Berry and Burgundy again ruled France from 1392 to 1402, due to the madness of the young Charles VI. Berry spent enormous sums on his art collection, and when he died in 1416 he was deeply in debt. The web site of the Louvre
says of Berry: "By his exacting taste, by his tireless search for artists, from Jacquemart de Hesdin to the Limbourg brothers
, John of Berry made a decisive contribution to the renewal of art which took place in his time."
Together with Berry's master architect Guy de Dammartin, the Limbourg brothers, and the miniaturist André Beauneveu
and his student Jean de Cambrai, Jacquemart was considered to be a friend as well as a protégé of the Duke.
(the capital of the Province of Berry
) at the court of John, Duke of Berry. He was active in the Duke's service from 1384 until 1414 and made a significant contribution to the Duke's famous illuminated books, in particular the Très Belles Heures du Duc de Berry
, the Grandes Heures, the Petites Heures
, and a Psalter, often working with the Limbourg brothers
and the painter known as the Boucicaut Master
.
On 28 November 1384, Jacquemart was paid for the first time by the steward of John, Duke of Berry, to cover expenses he and his wife had incurred in Bourges, and he was also paid for his clothes for the coming winter. After 1384, he was paid a regular salary.
In 1398, while Jacquemart was working for Berry in the castle at Poitiers
, he was accused with his assistant Godefroy and with his brother-in-law Jean Petit of the theft of colours and patterns from Jean de Hollande, another painter who worked for Berry. Jacquemart is recorded as staying in Bourges in 1399.
The Très Belles Heures du Duc de Berry (also sometimes called the Brussels Hours, from the city where it has long been kept) is chiefly the work of Jacquemart. The book is described in an inventory of Berry's library dated 1402:
The Très Belles Heures disappeared for several hundred years, but the scholarly consensus is that the manuscript in the Bibliothèque Royale at Brussels
is the one described in the 1402 inventory.
The Petites Heures is believed to date from before 1388, apart from a miniature of the Duke of Berry himself added later by the Limbourg brothers. Millard Meiss suggests that at least five painters worked on the book's illuminations, Jacquemart and four unidentified artists. One of these four is commonly referred to as the Pseudo-Jacquemart.
Jacquemart's small painting The Carrying of the Cross (vellum mounted on canvas, 38 cm by 28 cm, dated before 1409) is in the Musée du Louvre.
". She says also that he "...attests the new northern naturalist tendencies, in contrast to the idealized art of Jean Pucelle
".
The Columbia Encyclopedia
(sixth edition) notes that Jacquemart was influenced by Sienese
painting, and his work "...included elaborate architectural interiors used to place figures in a believable space". By studying the work of Pucelle and the Italian painters, Jacquemart developed his modelling and rendering of space and modified the realism which is characteristic of the Netherlandish painters of the period.
He is also noted for his marginalia
, shapes of animals and foliage which give his manuscript pages a frame.
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
miniature
Miniature (illuminated manuscript)
The word miniature, derived from the Latin minium, red lead, is a picture in an ancient or medieval illuminated manuscript; the simple decoration of the early codices having been miniated or delineated with that pigment...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
working in the International Gothic
International Gothic
International Gothic is a phase of Gothic art which developed in Burgundy, Bohemia, France and northern Italy in the late 14th century and early 15th century...
style. In English, he is also called Jacquemart of Hesdin. During his lifetime, his name was spelt in a number of ways, including as Jacquemart de Odin.
Background
Jacquemart was a painter from ArtoisArtois
Artois is a former province of northern France. Its territory has an area of around 4000 km² and a population of about one million. Its principal cities are Arras , Saint-Omer, Lens and Béthune.-Location:...
. Hesdin
Hesdin
Hesdin is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.-Geography:The N39, from Arras to Montreuil, used to be the main thoroughfare of the town. In the 1950s, a circular route was created to help traffic flow...
, the town from which he took his name, was a fortified citadel
Citadel
A citadel is a fortress for protecting a town, sometimes incorporating a castle. The term derives from the same Latin root as the word "city", civis, meaning citizen....
in the Pas-de-Calais, then part of Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
and a stronghold of the Dukes of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy was a title borne by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, a small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Bald's kingdom of West Franks...
. It is possible that Jacquemart was born there. He was one of the many Netherlandish
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
artists who worked for members of the French royal family from about the middle of the fourteenth century.
Jacquemart's only known patron, John, Duke of Berry
John, Duke of Berry
John of Valois or John the Magnificent was Duke of Berry and Auvergne and Count of Poitiers and Montpensier. He was the third son of King John II of France and Bonne of Luxemburg; his brothers were King Charles V of France, Duke Louis I of Anjou and Duke Philip the Bold of Burgundy...
(1340–1416), was a younger brother of King Charles V of France
Charles V of France
Charles V , called the Wise, was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380 and a member of the House of Valois...
. When Charles V died in 1380, his son Charles VI
Charles VI of France
Charles VI , called the Beloved and the Mad , was the King of France from 1380 to 1422, as a member of the House of Valois. His bouts with madness, which seem to have begun in 1392, led to quarrels among the French royal family, which were exploited by the neighbouring powers of England and Burgundy...
was a minor, so Berry and his brothers Louis I of Anjou, King of Naples
Louis I of Naples
Louis I of Anjou , or Louis I of Naples, was the second son of King John II of France and Bonne of Luxembourg...
(1339–1384) and Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy
Philip the Bold
Philip the Bold , also Philip II, Duke of Burgundy , was the fourth and youngest son of King John II of France and his wife, Bonne of Luxembourg. By his marriage to Margaret III, Countess of Flanders, he also became Count Philip II of Flanders, Count Philip IV of Artois and Count-Palatine Philip IV...
(1342–1404), acted as regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
s of France until 1388. Berry and Burgundy again ruled France from 1392 to 1402, due to the madness of the young Charles VI. Berry spent enormous sums on his art collection, and when he died in 1416 he was deeply in debt. The web site of the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
says of Berry: "By his exacting taste, by his tireless search for artists, from Jacquemart de Hesdin to the Limbourg brothers
Limbourg brothers
The Limbourg brothers, or in Dutch Gebroeders van Limburg , were famous Dutch miniature painters from the city of Nijmegen. They were active in the early 15th century in France and Burgundy, working in the style known as International Gothic...
, John of Berry made a decisive contribution to the renewal of art which took place in his time."
Together with Berry's master architect Guy de Dammartin, the Limbourg brothers, and the miniaturist André Beauneveu
André Beauneveu
André Beauneveu was an Early Netherlandish sculptor and painter, born in the County of Hainaut , who is best known for his work in the service of the French King Charles V, and of the Valois Duke, Jean de Berry...
and his student Jean de Cambrai, Jacquemart was considered to be a friend as well as a protégé of the Duke.
Career and work
Jacquemart's whole career developed at BourgesBourges
Bourges is a city in central France on the Yèvre river. It is the capital of the department of Cher and also was the capital of the former province of Berry.-History:...
(the capital of the Province of Berry
Berry (province)
Berry is a region located in the center of France. It was a province of France until the provinces were replaced by départements on 4 March 1790....
) at the court of John, Duke of Berry. He was active in the Duke's service from 1384 until 1414 and made a significant contribution to the Duke's famous illuminated books, in particular the Très Belles Heures du Duc de Berry
Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry or simply the Très Riches Heures is a richly decorated book of hours commissioned by John, Duke of Berry, around 1410...
, the Grandes Heures, the Petites Heures
Petites Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry
The Petites Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry was an illuminated book of Hours commissioned by John, Duke of Berry. It is now housed at the Bibliothèque nationale de France under the reference ms. lat. 18014....
, and a Psalter, often working with the Limbourg brothers
Limbourg brothers
The Limbourg brothers, or in Dutch Gebroeders van Limburg , were famous Dutch miniature painters from the city of Nijmegen. They were active in the early 15th century in France and Burgundy, working in the style known as International Gothic...
and the painter known as the Boucicaut Master
Master of Boucicaut
The Boucicaut Master or Master of the Hours for Marshal Boucicaut was an anonymous French or Flemish miniaturist and illuminator active in the first quarter of the fifteenth century, particularly active between 1400 and 1430 in Paris...
.
On 28 November 1384, Jacquemart was paid for the first time by the steward of John, Duke of Berry, to cover expenses he and his wife had incurred in Bourges, and he was also paid for his clothes for the coming winter. After 1384, he was paid a regular salary.
In 1398, while Jacquemart was working for Berry in the castle at Poitiers
Poitiers
Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...
, he was accused with his assistant Godefroy and with his brother-in-law Jean Petit of the theft of colours and patterns from Jean de Hollande, another painter who worked for Berry. Jacquemart is recorded as staying in Bourges in 1399.
The Très Belles Heures du Duc de Berry (also sometimes called the Brussels Hours, from the city where it has long been kept) is chiefly the work of Jacquemart. The book is described in an inventory of Berry's library dated 1402:
The Très Belles Heures disappeared for several hundred years, but the scholarly consensus is that the manuscript in the Bibliothèque Royale at Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
is the one described in the 1402 inventory.
The Petites Heures is believed to date from before 1388, apart from a miniature of the Duke of Berry himself added later by the Limbourg brothers. Millard Meiss suggests that at least five painters worked on the book's illuminations, Jacquemart and four unidentified artists. One of these four is commonly referred to as the Pseudo-Jacquemart.
Jacquemart's small painting The Carrying of the Cross (vellum mounted on canvas, 38 cm by 28 cm, dated before 1409) is in the Musée du Louvre.
Art
According to Anne Granboulan, Jacquemart "...manifests a certain mastery in the representation of space, thus showing that he had suitably assimilated the lesson of SienaBarna da Siena
Barna da Siena, also known as Barna di Siena, was a Sienese painter active from about 1330 to 1350, and was the painter in Siena during this period. He learned his trade from Simone Martini...
". She says also that he "...attests the new northern naturalist tendencies, in contrast to the idealized art of Jean Pucelle
Jean Pucelle
Jean Pucelle was a Parisian Gothic-era manuscript illuminator, active between 1320 and 1350. His style is characterized by delicate figures rendered in grisaille, accented with touches of color....
".
The Columbia Encyclopedia
Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Encyclopedia is a one-volume encyclopedia produced by Columbia University Press and sold by the Gale Group. First published in 1935, and continuing its important relationship with Columbia University, the encyclopedia underwent major revisions in 1950 and 1963; the current edition is...
(sixth edition) notes that Jacquemart was influenced by Sienese
Siena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
painting, and his work "...included elaborate architectural interiors used to place figures in a believable space". By studying the work of Pucelle and the Italian painters, Jacquemart developed his modelling and rendering of space and modified the realism which is characteristic of the Netherlandish painters of the period.
He is also noted for his marginalia
Marginalia
Marginalia are scribbles, comments, and illuminations in the margins of a book.- Biblical manuscripts :Biblical manuscripts have liturgical notes at the margin, for liturgical use. Numbers of texts' divisions are given at the margin...
, shapes of animals and foliage which give his manuscript pages a frame.