The Art of Jean Fouquet - The Virgin and Child with Angels / Madonna Surrounded by Seraphim and Cherubim( The Melun Diptych ), 1452.

The Melun Diptych is a two panel oil painting by the French court painter Jean Fouquet (1425-1480) created around 1452. The name of the diptych came from its original home in the Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame in Melun. 

The Melun Diptych is a two panel oil painting by the French court painter Jean Fouquet (1425-1480) 

The left panel depicts the patron Etienne Chevalier with St. Stephen and the right panel depicts the Virgin and Christ child surrounded by cherubim. Each wooden panel measures about 93 by 85 centimeters and the two would have been hinged together at the center. The two pieces, originally a diptych, are now separated. 

The left panel now resides in the Staatliche Museen in Berlin and the right panel is now located at the Koninklijk Museum (Royal Museum of Fine Arts) in Belgium. A self-portrait medallion is also associated with the two panels. 

Right wing of a diptych, originally located in Melun. 

Measuring 6 centimeters in diameter, it would have adorned the frame, and consists of copper, enamel, and gold. The medallion is now located in the Louvre in Paris, France.

Description of the Left Panel 

On the left étienne Chevalier, the treasurer to King Charles VII of France, kneels in a red robe with in his hand in a position of prayer. 

Leftt wing of the diptych, originally located in Melun. 

The king liked to have non-aristocrats such as Chevalier about him because he thought them more reliable than nobles. On his right is Chevalier’s patron saint, St. Stephen, in a dark deacon’s robes with gold trim. 

His right arm is draped across Chevalier’s shoulder while his left hand holds a book and a jagged rock, his representational attribute as he was stoned to death. Both men gaze off to the right as if they were looking at the Virgin and child on the other panel. 

The wall behind the treasurer and his patron saint is inlaid with marble panels and has elaborate white and gold moldings. 

The tiled floor’s neutral colors create a stark contrast with the saturated colors of the men's robes. Identifying Chevalier is an engraving on the wall behind him that says “IER ESTIEN”. 

This lettering has been used to link the painting to Fouquet since he never signed any of his work. It is very similar to lettering used in several miniatures which are attributed to him.

Description of the Right Panel 

Seated on an elaborate gold throne, the Madonna and the Christ child are depicted in the right panel. 

Right wing of a diptych, originally located in Melun. 

The Madonna wears a blue dress, white mantle and a jewel-encrusted crown. On her lap sits the child, who makes a pointing gesture to the left with His left hand at the patron and the saint. 

The two are surrounded by blue and red cherubim, which greatly contrast with the pale skin of the Virgin and child. Although the figures are modeled realistically, the mood is otherworldly, described by historian Roger Fry as a dreamlike state of sentimentalism. 

The Madonna is depicted here as the Queen of Heaven and is meant to reveal her as between the veil of heaven and earth. 

She is both human and otherworldly. The unnatural colors have been attributed to represent the heraldic colors of the king, being red, white, and blue. 

The Virgin is believed to be an idealized portrait of Agnès Sorel, mistress of King Charles VII, who died two years earlier. Sorel was considered by many at the time to be “the most beautiful woman in the world” and therefore an obvious choice after which to model the Virgin. 

As minister of finance to the king, Etienne Chevalier was the executor of her will. Her costume and physical attributes have been compared to other representations of Sorel, such as another painting by Fouquet in which her dress is very similar to that in the diptych. It has also been suggested that the woman could be Chevalier’s wife, Catherine Bude, over whose tomb the diptych was hung in Notre Dame, Melun.

Description of the Medallion

The original frame was covered in blue velvet with silver and gold embroidery, antique love knots, and pearls. It also included a self-portrait medallion of Jean Fouquet. 

Fouquet is shown frontally, his gold image is engraved into the black enamel background and framed by his name. It is believed that he invented this technique. 

The original position of the diptych high above the tomb would have made it difficult to see the tiny medallion and since the pieces have since been separated, its exact position on the frame is unclear. 

The medallion was Fouquet's way of signing the diptych. It is traditionally recognized as the oldest self-signed self-portrait and is Fouquet’s only signed work.

Jean Fouquet

Background

Much information about Fouquet’s life is obscure. The artist was born in 1425 in Tours, France. 

He traveled to Rome in 1446 for two years as part of a French delegation. Fouquet was employed by Charles VII and Louis XI and was called “peintre du roi” meaning painter to the king. 

He was called upon to create portraits, manuscript illuminations, altarpieces, ephemeral decorations, and sculptural designs. 

He is believed to have traveled to Florence and Venice where he studied the work of contemporary Italian masters. 

Geometric composition:

This influence can be seen in the Melun Diptych as it has been suggested that the background of the left panel is an Italian courtyard in empirical perspective, not unlike Jacopo Bellini's method. In contrast to the Madonna and child panel, which lacks perspective completely, the background behind Chevalier and St. Stephen extends deep into space in a truly Italian style. 

The figures are also clear and modeled realistically in the Italian style as opposed to his native French. In the case of the right panel, the figures are so smooth they appear to be polished. 

This effect enhances the otherworldly aspects of this panel, in contrast to the very realistic rendering of the left panel. Etienne Chevalier commissioned the Melun Diptych to hang over his wife’s tomb. Chevalier had a close relationship with Fouquet and was his main patron during his time as treasurer to the king. 

Geometric Composition: Now let us look at the right hand wing of the diptych, which is entitled Madonna and Child. The first thing that strikes the observer is the strange and vibrant colouring used in the painting. The unnatural colours have been attributed to represent the heraldic colours of the French king, being red, white, and blue. It is generally agreed by art historians that the features of the Madonna are those of Agnès Sorel. She was a favourite mistress of Charles VII and bore him three daughters. She was known by the nickname, Dame de beauté. In 1450, Charles was away on a campaign at Jumièges. Agnès Sorel was at her home in Chinon, which the king had provided for her, but she wanted to be with Charles to give him some moral support. Despite being pregnant with their fourth child and it being a cold mid-winter day, she journeyed from her residence to join Charles at the village of Le Mesnil-sous-Jumièges. It was here that she suddenly became ill and died at the age of 28. While the cause of death was originally thought to be dysentery, in 2005 French forensic scientist Philippe Charlier examined her remains and determined that the cause of death was mercury poisoning, but offered no opinion about whether she was murdered. Agnès Sorel held great influence over the king and many historians believe that this made her many enemies, including the king’s son, the future king, Louis XI, and it could well be that she had been deliberately poisoned by her enemies. However this theory does not receive unanimous agreement as historians point out that, at that time, mercury was sometimes used in cosmetic preparations or to treat worms and that might have brought about her death.

However there is another theory about the identification of the lady in the painting. Jan Schafer in his 1994 book, Jean Fouquet an der Schwelle zur Renaissance, stated that he believed that the woman in the painting could have been Etienne Chevalier’s wife, Catherine Bude, over whose tomb the diptych was hung in Notre Dame, Melun.

This right-hand panel depicts the Virgin and Child seated on a jewelled throne with its marble panels and adorned with large gold tassels. The Virgin and Child are surrounded by red and blue coloured cherubs and seraphims, which greatly contrast with the pale skin of the Virgin and child. The Madonna wears a blue dress, white mantle and a jewel-encrusted crown. Once again we have the colour combination of red, white and blue. The bodice of the dress is unlaced, giving us a view of her perfectly spherical left breast, which she has offered to the Child on her knee. She has the bulging shaved forehead which was fashionable at that time. Her facial and skin tone, as well as the body of the Infant Jesus, are of a pale grey-white colour, as if painted in grisaille (painted entirely in monochrome or near-monochrome). The colour Fouquet has used to depict her skin and the grey-blue colour he has used to depict her robe gives the Madonna a look of lethargy and sleepiness. The child ignores the proffered breast and instead looks at and points towards Chevalier and St Stephen.

The prominent Dutch historian Johan Huizinga wrote about this panel in his 1919 book entitled Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen which was translated five years later as The Waning of the Middle Ages. He condemned the work as “blasphemous libertarianism”. In his book he wrote about how he considered this painting a fine example of decadence in the late Middle Ages, when religious feelings came close to erotic ones. He wrote:

“…No instance of this dangerous association of religious with amatory sentiments could be more striking than the Madonna ascribed to Foucquet…”

“…The bizarre inscrutable expression of the Madonna’s face, the red and blue cherubim surrounding her, all contribute to give this painting an air of decadent impiety in spite of the stalwart figure of the donor…”

“..There is a flavour of blasphemous boldness about the whole, unsurpassed by any artist of the Renaissance…”

And so the two halves of the diptych were split up and never re-united. Well actually they were, for in 1904, France borrowed the panels from Berlin for an exhibition of French primitives.

There are many unanswered questions with regards to these paintings and the background to their composition:

Was the Madonna based on Agnès Sorel or Catharine Bude?

Did Agnès Sorel die of dysentery during the birth of her stillborn fourth child or was she murdered on the orders of Charles VII’s son, the future King Louis XI?

Was there a third panel and in fact what we are seeing is two parts of a triptych? The third panel was rumoured to be depicting Etienne Chevalier’s wife Catharine.

Detail: The Virgin.

The diptych was hung above Catharine Bude’s tomb. This has caused controversy over whether a third panel is now lost. Some scholars believe it may have formed prat of a triptych of which the third panel would have depicted Chevalier’s wife since it was meant to be hung above her tomb. 

This could have tied the two different existing panels into a more cohesive piece. Others believe this is not the case. 

A report from Denys Godefroy who saw the piece in its original context in 1660, and is therefore the most reputable source available today, does not describe a third panel. 

Until 1775, the diptych remained in the church of Notre Dame in Melun. In need of funds for restoration, the cathedral chapter decided to sell the panels. The right panel was purchased by the mayor of Antwerp and has remained in the city since 1840. 

The left panel was purchased by Clemens Brentano, a German poet, and joined his collection in 1896. 

The halves have only been reunited once since their separation. In 1904 France borrowed the panels from Berlin for an exhibition of French primitives.

Conferencia impartida por Pilar Silva, Jefe del Departamento de Pintura Espa?ola (1100-1500) y de Pintura Flamenca y Escuelas del Norte (1400-1600) y del Museo Nacional del Prado.

Courtesy:

The Louvre Museum

KMSKA

Staatliche Museum https://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/all-places-at-a-glance.html