Kings, Queens, and Courtiers: Art in Early Renaissance France

Jan Gossart (ca. 1478–1532) was among the first Netherlandish artists to travel to Rome to make drawings after antique monuments and sculpture and then, upon his return, to introduce biblical and mythological subjects with erotic nude figures into the mainstream of Northern painting. Often credited with successfully assimilating Italian Renaissance style into the art of 16th-century northern Europe, Gossart is the pivotal old master who redirected the course of early Netherlandish art from the legacy of its founder, Jan van Eyck, toward a new style that would eventually lead to the great age of Peter Paul Rubens.

Man, Myth, and Sensual Pleasures offers a much-needed comprehensive reappraisal of the artists accomplishmentthe first in 45 years. It is not only an exhibition catalogue but also a study of the artists complete oeuvre as a painter, draftsman, and printmaker. The majority of the paintings in this volume have for the first time undergone rigorous technical examination. As a result, many problems relating to attributions, dating, versions, and copies have been clarified, and a fuller understanding has been obtained of the artists working procedures. The text draws on these unprecedented technical investigations as well as on recent original scholarship concerning many issues not adequately examined in the past, such as Gossarts early career as a proponent of Antwerp Mannerism and the patronage of Philip of Burgundy (including a closer look at the erotic nature of court art).

"American readers are well served by the more compact, beautifully illustrated English version. Recommended."and#8212;W. Cahn, Choice

This sumptuous catalogue provides an overview of French art circa 1500, a dynamic, transitional period when the country, resurgent after the dislocations of the Hundred Years' War, invaded Italy and all media flourished. What followed was the emergence of a unique art: the fusion of the Italian Renaissance with northern European Gothic styles. Outstanding examples of exquisite and revolutionary works are featured, including paintings, sculptures, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, tapestries, and metalwork. Exciting new research brings to life court artists Jean Fouquet, Jean Bourdichon, Michel Colombe, Jean Poyer, and Jean Hey (The Master of Moulins), all of whose creations were used by kings and queens to assert power and prestige. Also detailed are the organization of workshops and the development of the influential art market in Paris and patronage in the Loire Valley.

Martha Wolff isand#160;Eleanor Wood Princeand#160;Curator of European Painting before 1750 at the Art Institute of Chicago. Geniviand#232;ve Bresc-Bautier is Director of the Department of Sculpture, Musand#233;e du Louvre. Thierry Crand#233;pin-Leblond is Director of the Musand#233;e national de la Renaissance, Chand#226;teau d'Ecouen. Elisabeth Taburet-Delahaye is Director of the Musand#233;e de Clunyand#8212;Musand#233;e National du Moyen and#194;ge, Paris.