Valentin de Boulogne biography. French Baroque artist
Valentin de Boulogne
French painter ()
Valentin de Boulogne (before 3 January – 19 August ), sometimes referred to as Le Valentin, was a Frenchpainter in the tenebrist style.[1][2]
Origins
Valentin was born in Coulommiers, France, where he was baptised in the parish of Saint-Denys on 3 January , making his likely year of birth.
The family name, also spelled Boullogne and Boulongne, appears to originate from Boulogne-sur-Mer, a city in northern France in the colony of Pas-de-Calais, though the family had dwelt at Coulommiers since at least His father, also named Valentin, and his uncle Jean were both painters.
In Italy
It can be presumed that Valentin would have first started painting in his father's studio prior to moving to Paris or Fontainebleau, and before leaving for Italy.
Valentin de boulogne biography of martin luther Valentin de Boulogne, a celebrated French painter of the Baroque period, was born in France but traveled to Italy in his youth, where he honed his artistic skills. During this time, the Carracci brothers championed a style in opposition to the influence of the recently deceased Caravaggio. Nicolas Poussin, a fellow French artist residing in Italy, aligned with the Carracci. However, Valentin, who befriended Poussin, harbored a deep fascination with Caravaggio's paintings, which defied the conventions established by Raphael, Titian, and other renowned masters. Like Caravaggio, Valentin rejected idealization in his art, instead prioritizing direct observation of reality.Valentin is recorded in Italy in the stati d'anime for , when he was living in the parish of Santa Maria del Popolo.
While studying in Italy under Simon Vouet, Valentin came under the influence of Caravaggio and Bartolomeo Manfredi. He also joined the Bentvueghels, a riotous unofficial group of expatriate, mostly Flemish, artists and was given the group nickname of "innamorato," no doubt in reference to his own name.[3][clarification needed]
Caravaggio used a bold, naturalistic style, which emphasized the common humanity of the apostles and martyrs, flattered the aspirations of the Counter-Reformation Church, while his vivid chiaroscuro enhanced both three-dimensionality and drama, as well as evoking the mystery of the faith." Caravaggio "followed a militantly realist agenda, rejecting both Mannerism and the classicizing naturalism" and "in the first 30 years of the 17th century his naturalistic ambitions and revolutionary artistic procedures attracted a large following from all over Europe.[4]
Manfredi, also an Italian painter, was known throughout Italy and beyond as Caravaggio's closest follower.
In the dramatically lit canvases of his later period Manfredi adopted a common theme from Caravaggio—the tavern scene featuring ordinary people, even religious subjects, whose figures are depicted close to the surface of the picture to involve the viewer in the action.
While Caravaggio and Manfredi may have influenced the style and themes that became common in Valentin's work, Valentin studied as well under Simon Vouet, considered a leading French painter by contemporaries.
Valentin de boulogne biography of martin Please note: Artists not classified as American in our database may have limited biographical data compared to the extensive information about American artists. Creating biographies or improving upon them is a work in progress, and we welcome information from our knowledgeable viewers. If you feel you have worthwhile information you would like to contribute, the following means of submission is the most efficient. We welcome your involvement! If you are a dealer or museum not currently registered, please click here to register , and then you may select your artist and submit a biography.Vouet's earliest works exhibit the influence of Caravaggio and deploy dramatic contrasts of light with a restricted palette of blacks, browns and whites.
Valentin had success with a type of composition invented by Caravaggio in which fortune tellers, drinkers, or gamblers are grouped around a table. Valentin himself was fond of carousing and fine wine.
Approximately 75 of his works survive. Valentin's genius shows in the subtleness of psychological expression and interplay among his characters, as well as in the refinement and finesse of his painting technique.
Valentin's painting Fortune Teller with Soldiers depicts a group of young soldiers, one of whom is mesmerized by the fortune teller reading his palm.
Behind the gypsy a shadowy figure looks at the viewer with his finger to his lips in a conspiratorial gesture as he steals the fortune teller's purse from her pocket.
Valentin de boulogne biography of martin lewis Valentin de Boulogne before 3 January — 19 August , sometimes referred to as Le Valentin , was a French painter in the tenebrist style. Valentin was born in Coulommiers , France , where he was baptised in the parish of Saint-Denys on 3 January , making his likely year of birth. The family name, also spelled Boullogne and Boulongne, appears to originate from Boulogne-sur-Mer , a city in northern France in the colony of Pas-de-Calais , though the family had dwelt at Coulommiers since at least His father, also named Valentin, and his uncle Jean were both painters. It can be presumed that Valentin would have first started painting in his father's studio prior to moving to Paris or Fontainebleau , and before leaving for Italy.At the same time the thief is pickpocketed in turn by a small child. While one person's fortune is told, another's is being stolen; and one thief falls victim to another.
Valentin's pupils included Nicolas Tournier.[5]
Death
Valentin de Boulogne is said to have died after bathing in the freezing cold waters of the Fontana del Tritone on Piazza Barberini, after having drunk too much.[6][2]
Gallery
See also: List of paintings by Valentin de Boulogne
- Selection of Valentin de Boulogne's works
St John the Baptist in the Desert
Christ and the Adulteress
The Martyrdom of Martinian and Processus ()
References
- Jacques Thuillier, Un peintre passionné, L'Oeil, November