Etienne Chevalier with St. Stephen by Jean Fouquet

This monumental votive portrait constitutes one of the peaks of portrait art of the French Renaissance from the mid-fifteenth century. Entitled “Etienne Chevalier with St. Stephen”, this famous painting is created by the illustrious Jean Fouquet, who here immortalizes a great state official under the celestial protection of his patron saint. Through this intimate and solemn work, the painter demonstrates his genius in marrying Italian geometric rigor with the most meticulous Northern naturalism.

The work presents the patron Étienne Chevalier, treasurer of France, kneeling in prayer with clasped hands, dressed in a sumptuous scarlet red doublet with full and regular folds. Behind him stands his patron saint, Saint Stephen, dressed in a rich dark blue dalmatic bordered with wide golden bands decorated with geometric embroidery. The saint places a protective hand on the donor’s shoulder while holding with the other a closed holy book of brilliant red leather, on which rests the stone of his martyrdom. The faces of both men are modeled by a soft light coming from the left, standing out against the grey marble architecture of the temple.

Jean Fouquet here displays outstanding expertise in the psychological realism of the faces and the tactile rendering of materials. The surgical precision of his drawing and the virtuoso treatment of volumes make this double portrait an unmatched masterpiece of French painting.