The 17th Century: Baroque and Rococo

Baroque and Rococo

Simon Vouet

Simon Vouet
(b Paris, 8 Jan 1590; bur Paris, 1 July 1649).

French painter and draughtsman. Although at the time regarded as one of the leading French painters of the first half of the 17th century, he is now known more for his influence on French painting than for his actual oeuvre. He made his reputation in Italy, where he executed numerous portraits for aristocratic patrons and was commissioned for religious subjects. Although the early Italian works show the influence of Caravaggio, his work was subsequently modified by the Baroque style of such painters as Lanfranco and the influence of the Venetian use of light and colour. When he was summoned back to France by Louis XIII in 1627 he thus brought with him an Italian idiom hitherto unknown in France that revitalized French painting. His style became highly popular among Parisian aristocrats who saw in Vouet a painter capable of decorating their hotels and châteaux in a manner that would rival the palazzi of their Italian counterparts. He quickly established a large workshop through which passed many of the leading French painters of the mid-17th century. There followed numerous commissions for allegorical works, religious subjects and decorative paintings for royal residences and the burgeoning hotels and chateaux in and around Paris. The schemes introduced a new type of illusionistic decoration with steep perspective that influenced a generation of decorative painters. Few of his canvases are signed and dated and many of his decorative schemes have been destroyed; precise attribution is made more difficult because of his prolific output and his extensive use of his workshop to fulfil his numerous commissions. Although much of his oeuvre has been lost, it is known from the work of such distinguished engravers as Claude Mellan and Michel Dorigny, who reproduced and circulated his work.

La Virgen y el nino con Santa Isabel, San Juan y Santa Catalina