Jean Fouquet
(b Tours, c. 1415–20; d Tours, before 8 Nov
1481).
French painter and illuminator. He is regarded as the most important
French painter of the 15th century and was responsible for introducing
Italian Renaissance elements into French painting. Little is known of
his life, and, apart from a signed self-portrait medallion (Paris,
Louvre), his only authenticated work is the Antiquites judaïques
(Paris, Bib. N., MS. fr. 247). A corpus of works by Fouquet has
therefore been established on the basis of stylistic criteria, but its
exact chronology is uncertain.