Three Paintings by Jean Mosnier discovered at the Château de Cheverny

by Émeline Chassine and Jürgen Poirier - University of Tours

Born into a family of glass painters (1), Jean III Mosnier (1600-1656) was an artist characteristic of the art in the Valley of Kings during the Grand Siècle (17th century). He learned his trade during the then customary trip to Florence and Rome paid for by a grant from Queen Marie de' Medici, who was won over by a copy of a Virgin by Solario (2)he had made for her. Upon his return in 1624, he started working alongside Rubens, Vouet, Champaigne and the Gentileschis on the very prestigious site of the Luxembourg Palace. However, he soon left Paris for his native Blois region (3), where he shared his career with his second wife and ten children (4).

Called upon to decorate numerous aristocratic residences in the Loire Valley, Mosnier quickly earned an unmatched reputation in the region (5). In Chartres, Valençay, Chenailles, and Richelieu, he put his skills as a decorator to use on the most important dignitaries of the kingdom of France, thus showing his ability to depict secular as well as religious or mythological themes (6). The decoration of the castle of Cheverny for Henri Hurault (1575-1648), undoubtedly Mosnier’s most notable project, encompasses a large part of his still standing body of work.


Mosnier's work is still largely incomplete and poorly documented (7). Many of the designs that he painted have been revamped, sold or destroyed over the centuries. This is why the discovery in the attics of the Château de Cheverny of three previously unknown paintings of his is particularly noteworthy. A literary subject, Tancred baptizing Clorinda (oil on canvas, 171 x 122 cm), and two mythological subjects, Sacrifice to Athena (?) (oil on canvas, 175 x 136 cm) and Apollo and the Muses (oil on canvas, 145 x 137 cm), which were probably painted between 1630 and 1640, are thus included in the listing of the known work by the artist.

Similarly to other works by Mosnier at Cheverny, these paintings prove his inventive creativity. Not only do they show his narrative skills but also the extent of his literary culture. With his distinctive style, he portrays plump characters in minimalist settings, in the manner of Vouet. These paintings contain Mosnier’s trademark motifs, such as the way his characters tilt their head or iconographic and figurative themes that can be found all over his body of work.

The decorative program designed by Mosnier for the Château de Cheverny between 1630 and 1640 addresses literary themes of the 16th and 17th centuries as well as mythological ones. It is therefore likely that the three paintings preserved in its attic were part of a painted decor that was removed either during the 1765 renovations carried out under Nicolas Dufort or during those carried out in 1860 by Guillaume Marie Paul Louis Hurault, Marquis of Vibraye. On this occasion, a canvas was offered to the museum of Blois.


A true milestone in the Loire Valley painting tradition, Jean Mosnier continued the work of his august predecessors, among which Jean Bourdichon and François Clouet, and left his mark in the regional castles.

Tancredi baptizing Clorinda by Jean MOSNIER

(oil on canvas, 171 x 122 cm)
The iconography of Tancred and Clorinda’s epic love story originates in the Jerusalem Delivered poem by Tasso (1544-1595), in which the author recounts the first crusade led by Godfrey of Bouillon against the Muslims that led to the 1099 conquest of Jerusalem. In this poem, Tancred, a Christian knight, meets Clorinda, a Saracen heroine, and falls in love with her. Our painting depicts a scene from Canto XII, stanzas 64-69. After mortally wounding his lover, whom he had not recognized on the battlefield, Tancred - kneeling on the ground - baptizes her with his own helmet. Dressed in the antique style, her chest bare, the wounded and dying Clorinda is sitting down and leaning against a tree. She looks down, a gentle and dramatic look on her face, in a posture reminiscent of a character by Simon Vouet (1590-1649). That same iconography, inspired by the Jerusalem Delivered, is repeated in wall hangings housed in the castle of Châteaudun (342 x 294 cm) and in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (284 x 350 cm). The composition of our painting matches in every way that of The Death of Adonis exhibited in the guard room of the Château de Cheverny, the only difference being that in the latter, a woman rushes to her dying lover, instead of a man rushing to his distressed lover. Mosnier’s ability to depict literary themes, particularly romantic ones, contributed to the artist's reputation. In the ballroom of the Château de Chenailles, he depicted another story written by the same author, that of Armida and Rinaldo.

Livestock being sacrificed to Zeus, Heracles and Athena by Jean MOSNIER

(oil on canvas, 175 x 136 cm)
The iconography of this Livestock being sacrificed to Zeus, Heracles and Athena is an original creation by Jean Mosnier. In this painting, a priest makes a sacrifice to Athena. The goddess can be seen descending from the sky to the altar and the sacrificial procession. This painting is a testimony to the creative power of the painter. As often, he composes his canvas from elements that are specific to his own repertoire. The priest depicted in this painting is similar to Calchas in Iphigenia’s sacrifice (canvas, private collection) while the motif of the woman’s tilted head with a dramatic look on her face, who can be seen in the background of this painting, can be found in most of his work.

Apollo and the Muses by Jean MOSNIER

(oil on canvas, 145 x 137 cm)
To the right of this painting, Apollo, holding his lyre and quiver, observes the Muses. The muses perform their characteristic dance. Their features and slow gestures, as well as the musculature of the god of Art, all refer to Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi. Apollo’s physiognomy and posture, are close to Gentileschi’s Saint Sebastian (oil on canvas, private collection, Sotheby's 2018).

Notes

(1) Danne 1982, p. 8.
(2) Jean Mosnier copied of "Virgin Mary with a green cushion" (1617-1619, Musée d’art religieux de Blois) by Andrea Solario (1507-1510, Musée du Louvre) for the Cordeliers Convent in Blois, in order to replace the original painting, which was purchased by Queen Marie de' Medici.
(3) Danne 1982, p. 8. ; Jouhaud, Klinka, Leyzour (dir.) 2011, p. 126.
(4) Durand 1980, pp. 17-25.
(5) An estimate of Monier's paintings, made after his death, proves more important than for these other painters, Danne 1982, p. 16.
(6) Id., p. 15.
(7) From a biographical point of view, Jean-Jacques Danne's historical and archival work is a highly regarded reference (1982). However, the essay that Marie-Paule Durand wrote for he Master's Degree (1980) and Gabriele Quaranta's thesis (2013) bring a lots of information on Mosnier's body of work.
(8) Dufort 1990, pp. 17-28
(9) Lebédel-Carbonnel (dir.) 2008, p. 82.
(10) Quaranta 2013, p. 193.
(11) Lebédel-Carbonnel (dir.) 2008, p. 82 ; Durand 1980, p. 14.
(12) Sotheby’s Fine Old Master & 19th Century European Art Auction, lot n° 246, Feb. 1, 2018, New York City.

Bibliography

- DANNE, Jean-Jacques, « Jean Mosnier, peintre blésois (1600-1656) », Mémoires de la Société des Sciences et Lettres de Loir-et-Cher, t. 37, 1982, pp. 7-28.
- DUFORT DE CHEVERNY, Jean-Nicolas, Mémoires. 1, La Cour de Louis XV, [1909], texte commenté et annoté par - - GUICCIARDI, Jean, Paris, Perrin, 1990, 546 p.
- DURAND, Marie-Paule, Recherches sur Jean III Mosnier, peintre blésois (1600-1656), mémoire de master, sous la direction d’Antoine Schnapper, Université Paris IV, Paris, 2 vol., 1980.
- LEBEDEL-CARBONNEL, Hélène (dir.), Catalogue des peintures du musée du château de Blois XVIe - XVIIIe siècles, Montreuil, Gourcuff Gradenigo, 2008, 229 p.
- MORIN, Christophe, Château de Cheverny, Paris, Artélia éditions, 2016, 176p.
- QUARANTA, Gabriele, L’art du roman: peintures à sujet littéraire en France au XVIIe siècle (du règne de Henri IV à la régence d’Anne d’Autriche), thèse de doctorat, sous la direction de Claudia Ceri et Colette Nativel, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I, Sapienza universita di Roma, 2 vol., 2013.