Simon Vouet

Simon Vouet was born on January 9, 1590, in Paris. His father Laurent was a painter in Paris and taught him the rudiments of art. Simon's brother Aubin Vouet was also a painter, as also was Simon's wife Virginia da Vezzo, their son Louis-René Vouet, their two sons-in-law, Michel Dorigny and François Tortebat, and their grandson Ludovico Dorigny. Simon began his career as a portrait painter. At age 14 he travelled to England to paint a commissioned portrait and in 1611 was part of the entourage of the Baron de Sancy, French ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, for the same purpose. From Constantinople he went to Venice in 1612 and was in Rome by 1614. File:Simon Vouet - David with the Head of Goliath - Google Art Project.jpg|thumbnail|260px|David with the Head of Goliath (1620–1622), Palazzo Bianco, GenoaHe remained in Italy until 1627, mostly in Rome where the Baroque style was becoming dominant. He received a pension from the King of France and his patrons included the Barberini family, Cassiano dal Pozzo, Paolo Giordano Orsini and Vincenzo Giustiniani. Vouet's immense success in Rome led to his election as president of the Accademia di San Luca in 1624. His most prominent official commission of the Italian period was an altarpiece for St Peter's in Rome (1625–1626), destroyed at some time after 1725 (though fragments remain.) , the first wife of Simon Vouet, at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de NantesIn response to a royal summons, Vouet returned to France in 1627, where he was made Premier peintre du Roi. Louis XIII commissioned portraits, tapestry cartoons and paintings from him for the Palais du Louvre, the Palais du Luxembourg and the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. In 1632, he worked for Cardinal Richelieu at the Palais-Royal and the Château de Malmaison. In 1631 he decorated the château of the président de Fourcy, at Chessy, the hôtel Bullion, the château of Marshal d'Effiat at Chilly, the hôtel of the Duc d’Aumont, the Séguier chapel, and the gallery of the Château de Wideville. Today, a number of Vouet's paintings are lost, and "only two major decorative schemes survive, those for the chateaux of Colombes and Chessy," but the details and imagery of many lost works are known from engravings by Michel Dorigny, François Tortebat, and Claude Mellan. ==Personal life==

In 1626 he married Virginia da Vezzo, "a painter in her own right... known for her beauty," who modeled as the Madonna and female saints for Vouet's religious commissions. The couple would have five children. Virginia Vouet died in France in 1638. Two years later Vouet married a French widow, Radegonde Béranger, with whom he had three more children. ==Legacy==

Resuscitating a Child (1648), L'église-Saint-Henri de Lévis, Quebec, "the apogee of French seventeenth-century painting." As one art historian writes, "When Vouet returned to Paris in 1627, French art was painfully provincial and, by Italian standards, more than a quarter of a century behind the times. Vouet introduced the latest fashions, educated a group of talented young artists—and the public as well—and brought Paris up to date." Though never entirely forgotten by connoisseurs and collectors (such as William Suida), Vouet fell into a relative obscurity that was not remedied until William R. Crelly's monograph of 1962, and catalogue, which Brejon de Lavergnée says fulfilled "its aim of rehabilitating the artist." The exhibition's organizer, Jacques Thuillier, "is surely justified in claiming the altarpiece of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple as among the greatest masterpieces of seventeenth-century monumental painting," writes Brejon de Lavergnée, who further asserts that in the artist's works of the 1640s, such as Saint Francis of Paola Resuscitating a Child, "one can see Vouet concluding his career with pictures of an immense gravity informed by an intense spiritual energy. Images of the greatest force, these paintings constitute the apogee of French seventeenth-century painting." File:Simon Vouet--Two Modelli for Altarpiece in St-Peters--1625--LACMA.jpg|''Two Modelli for Altarpiece in St. Peter's'' (1625), LACMA ==Exhibitions==

• 1967: Vouet to Rigaud: French Masters of the Seventeenth Century, Finch College Museum of Art, New York, 20 April 1967 – 18 June 1967. • 1971: Simon Vouet 1590–1649: First Painter to the King, University of Maryland Art Gallery, College Park, MD, 18 February 1971 – 28 March 1971. • 1990–1991: Vouet, Galeries Nationales of the Grand Palais, Paris, 6 November – 11 February 1991; a major retrospective of Simon Vouet's work. • 1991: Simon Vouet : 100 neuentdeckte Zeichnungen, Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 9 May – 30 June 1991; exhibition of 100 newly discovered drawings from the holdings of the Bavarian State Library. • 2002–2003: ''Simon Vouet ou l'éloquence sensible'', Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes, 5 December 2002 – 20 February 2003; exhibition of drawings from the Bavarian State Library in Munich. • 2005–2006: Loth et ses filles ''de Simon Vouet: Éclairages sur un chef-d'œuvre'', Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg, 22 October 2005 – 22 January 2006. • 2008–2009: Simon Vouet, les années italiennes (1613–1627), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes, 21 November 2008 – 23 February 2009, and Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie de Besançon, 27 March – 29 June 2009. ==Works==

Paintings Crelly's catalogue raisonné of 1962 lists more than 150 preserved paintings by Vouet. Since that publication, "a number of paintings, some of them of considerable importance, have turned up in various parts of the world and the list of his work continues to grow." A new catalogue raisonné, by Arnauld and Barbara Brejon de Lavergnée, is forthcoming. This is a partial list by present location, and then, as possible, by date. ====Louvre, Paris==== • ''Prince Marcantonio Doria d'Angri'' (1621) • Saint William of Aquitaine (1622–1627) • The Holy Family with St Elisabeth and the Infant St John the Baptist (1625–1650) • Woman Wearing a White Veil (1630s) • Allegory of Wealth (c. 1635–1640) • Allegory of Charity (1630–1635) • Gaucher de Châtillon (1632–1635) • Allegory of Virtue (c. 1634) • Heavenly Charity (c. 1640) • Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (1641) • Hesselin Madonna or Madonna of the Oak Cutting (c.1640–1645) • Portrait of Louis XIII between two female figures symbolising France and Navarre (1643) • Portrait of a Young Man • Polymnia, Muse of Eloquence Elsewhere in France • Presumed portrait of Aubin Vouet, the artist's brother (c. 1620), Musée Réattu, Arles • Anges portant les instruments de la Passion (1625), Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie de Besançon • Cupid and Psyche (1626–1629), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon • Self-portrait (1626–1627), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon • Suite of the loves of Rinaldo and Armida (1631), based on Tasso's epic poem Jerusalem Delivered, collection of Guyot de Villeneuve, Paris • Repentant Magdalen (1633), Musée de Picardie, Amiens • Ceres Trampling the Attributes of War (1635), Musée des Beaux-arts Thomas Henry, Cherbourg-Octeville • Deposition of Christ (c.1635), Musée d'art moderne André Malraux, Le Havre • Lot and his Daughters (1633), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg, subject of a special exhibit in 2005–2006 • Crucifixion (1636–1637), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon • The Four Cardinal Virtues—Allegory of Temperance, Allegory of Force, Allegory of Prudence, Allegory of Justice (1638), Salon de Mars, Versailles • Death of Dido (c. 1641), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dole • Time Vanquished by Love, Venus and Hope (1640–1645), Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Bourges • Allégorie de la Charité (1640–1645; possibly a studio work), Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Draguignan • Last Supper, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon Italy • Mary Magdalene (1614–1615), Quirinal Palace, Rome • Angel with Dice and Tunic and Angel with Spear of the Passion (1615–1625), Museo di Capodimonte, Naples • Last Supper (1616–1620), Palazzo Comunale, Loreto • Crucifixion (1621–6122), Chiesa del Gesù, Genoa • Young Man with a ruff (1620), Luigi Koeliker Collezione, Milano • David with the Head of Goliath (1620–1622), Palazzo Bianco, Genoa • Nativity of the Virgin (c. 1629), San Francesco a Ripa, Rome • Annunciation (c. 1621–1622), Uffizi, Florence • Circumcision of Jesus (1622), Museo di Capodimonte, Naples • Portrait of Artemisia Gentileschi with Painting Implements (c. 1623–1625), private collection • Temptation of Saint Francis and Saint Francis Renouncing His Goods (1624–1625), San Lorenzo in Lucina, Rome • ''Saint Agatha's Vision of Saint Peter in Prison'' (c. 1625), Palazzo Abatellis, Palermo Elsewhere in Europe • The Annunciation (n.d.), Pushkin Museum, Moscow • Lovers (1614–1618), Pushkin Museum, Moscow • Judith (1620–1622), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna • The Ill-Matched Couple (Vanitas) (c. 1621), National Museum, Warsaw • Sophonisba Receiving the Poisoned Chalice (c. 1623), Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden • Time Vanquished by Love, Beauty and Hope (1627), Prado, Madrid • Diana (1637), Cumberland Gallery, Hampton Court Palace, England • Sleeping Venus (1630–1640), Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest • Parnassus, or Apollo and the Muses (c. 1640) Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest • The Rape of Europa (1640), Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid • Artemisia Building the Mausoleum (early 1640s), Nationalmuseum, Stockholm • Judith, Alte Pinakothek, Munich • Saint Jerome (c.1620), National Library of Wales, Wales United States • Saint Agnes (c. 1615), Blanton Museum of Art, Austin • The Halberdier (c. 1615–1620), Dayton Art Institute • Woman Playing a Guitar (c. 1618), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York • Portrait of a Gentleman (c. 1620), Blanton Museum of Art, Austin • Saint Luke and Saint John (1622–1625), Philadelphia Museum of Art • Saint Jerome and the Angel (c. 1622–1625), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. • ''Two Modelli for Altarpiece in St. Peter's'' (1625), LACMA, Los Angeles • Saint Sebastian (c. 1625), Museum of Fine Arts, Houston • The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (1626), Legion of Honor, San Francisco • Saint Cecilia (c. 1626), Blanton Museum of Art, Austin • Salome (1626–1627), Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento • Angels with Attributes of the Passion: Angel Holding the Vessel and Towel for Washing the Hands of Pontius Pilate and Angel with the Superscription from the Cross (1627), Minneapolis Institute of Arts • ''Virginia da Vezzo, the Artist's Wife, as the Magdalen'' (c. 1627), LACMA, Los Angeles • Saint Mary Magdalen (c. 1630), Cleveland Museum of Art • Diana and Endymion and Neptune and Amphitrite (1630s), Hearst Castle, San Simeon • Madonna and Child (1633), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. • The Muses Urania and Calliope (1634), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. • Aeneas and His Father Fleeing Troy (c. 1635), San Diego Museum of Art • The Toilet of Venus (1640), Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh • Sacrifice of Isacc (1642), Milwaukee Museum of Art, Milwaukee • Venus and Adonis (1642), J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles • King David Playing the Harp (c. 1630s), Museum & Gallery, Inc., Greenville, SC • Bellona (1630), Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, Indianapolis Canada • The Fortune-teller (c. 1620), National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa • Apparition of the Virgin and the Infant Jesus to Saint Anthony (1630–1631), by Vouet in collaboration with François Perrier, L’église Saint-Roch de Quebec, Quebec City • Saint Francis of Paola Resuscitating a Child (1648), L'église-Saint-Henri de Lévis, Quebec Japan • St. Catherine (n.d.), National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo , San Francisco Tapestries Compositions by Vouet preserved in tapestries include: • Twelve tapestries based on scenes from Tasso's epic poem Jerusalem Delivered, including Rinaldo in the Arms of Armida at the Louvre. • Six tapestries from the series The Story of Theagenes and Chariclea (1634–1635), based on scenes from the ancient Greek novel Aethiopica, at the Legion of Honor, San Francisco. • Eight tapestries based on scenes from the Old Testament, including Moses Saved from the Waters (The Finding of Moses) (c. 1630) at the Louvre. • Eight tapestries based on scenes from the Odyssey. • Twenty-three tapestries based on Loves of the Gods, including Neptune and Ceres and Aurora and Cephalus at the Hôtel de Sully. ==Gallery of paintings (chronological)==

File:Simon_Vouet_-_Parnassus_or_Apollo_and_the_Muses_-_WGA25372.jpg|Parnassus, or Apollo and the Muses (c. 1640), Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest File:Simon Vouet - St. Catherine - Google Art Project.jpg|St. Catherine (n.d.), National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo File:Simon Vouet - Magdalene - WGA25347.jpg|Mary Magdalen (1614–1615), Quirinal Palace, Rome File:Amanti - Vouet.jpg|Lovers (1614–1618), Pushkin Museum, Moscow File:Saint Agnes by Simon Vouet, Paris, c. 1615, oil on canvas - Blanton Museum of Art - Austin, Texas - DSC07774.jpg|Saint Agnes (c. 1615), Blanton Museum of Art File:Woman Playing a Guitar MET DP-12928-001.jpg|Woman Playing a Guitar (c. 1618), Metropolitan Museum of Art File:'The Halberdier' by Simon Vouet, Dayton Art Institute.JPG|The Halberdier (c. 1615–1620), Dayton Art Institute File:Angelo con dadi e tunica - Vouet.jpg|Angel with Dice and Tunic (1615–1625), Museo di Capodimonte, Naples File:Angelo con la lancia della Passione - Vouet.jpg|Angel with Spear of the Passion (1615–1625), Museo di Capodimonte, Naples File:Vouet Portrait of a Gentleman.tif|Portrait of a Gentleman (c. 1620), Blanton Museum of Art File:Saint Jerome (c.347–420) (kwf00534).jpg|Saint Jerome (c. 1620), National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth File:Simon Vouet - The Fortune Teller - WGA25350.jpg|The Fortune-teller (c. 1620), National Gallery of Canada File:Vouet Vanitas.JPG|The Ill-Matched Couple (Vanitas) (c. 1621), National Museum, Warsaw File:SimonVouet.JudithHolofernes01.jpg|Judith (1620–1622), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna File:Circoncisione di Gesù - Vouet.jpg|Circumcision of Jesus (1622), Museo di Capodimonte, Naples File:Vouet - Judith.JPG|Judith (c. 1620–1625), Alte Pinakothek, Munich File:Simon Vouet--Saint Luke--1622-1625--Philadelphia Museum of Art.jpg|Saint Luke (1622–1625), Philadelphia Museum of Art File:Simon Vouet--Saint John--1622-1625--Philadelphia Museum of Art.jpg|Saint John (1622–1625), Philadelphia Museum of Art File:Simon Vouet, Saint Jerome and the Angel, c. 1622-1625, NGA 46151.jpg|Saint Jerome and the Angel (c. 1622–1625), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. File:Vouet-guillaume-louvre.jpg|Saint William of Aquitaine (1622–1627), Louvre File:Simon Vouet - Sophonisba Receiving the Poisoned Chalice - WGA25358.jpg|Sophonisba Receiving the Poisoned Chalice (c. 1623), Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister File:Portrait of Artemisia Lomi Gentileschi by Simon Vouet ca. 1623-1626.jpg|Portrait of Artemisia Gentileschi with Painting Implements (c. 1623–1625), private collection File:Vouet-Anges-instruments de la passion-Besançon.jpg|Angels Carrying Instruments of the Passion (1625), Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie de Besançon File:Sant'Agata in carcere visitata da San Pietro - Vouet.jpg|''Saint Agatha's Vision of Saint Peter in Prison'' (c. 1625), Palazzo Abatellis, Palermo File:Simon Vouet - Saint Sebastian - 1990.5 - Museum of Fine Arts.jpg|Saint Sebastian (c. 1625), Museum of Fine Arts, Houston File:Vouet, Simon - Saint Cecilia - c. 1626.jpg|Saint Cecilia (c. 1626), Blanton Museum of Art File:The Holy Family by Simon Vouet, California Palace of the Legion of Honor.JPG|The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (1626), Legion of Honor, San Francisco File:Simon Vouet--Salome--1626-1627--Crocker Art Museum--Sacramento.jpg|Salome (1626–1627), Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento File:Vouet-Psyché-Lyon.jpg|Cupid and Psyche (1626–1629), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon File:Simon Vouet - Angels with Attributes of the Passion Angel Holding the Vessel and Towel for washing the hands of Pontius Pilate - 69.36.1 - Minneapolis Institute of Arts.jpg|Angel Holding the Vessel and Towel for Washing the Hands of Pontius Pilate (1627), Minneapolis Institute of Arts File:Simon Vouet - Angels with Attributes of the Passion, the Superscription from the Cross - 69.36.2 - Minneapolis Institute of Arts.jpg|Angel with the Superscription from the Cross (1627), Minneapolis Institute of Arts File:Vouet, Simon - Father Time Overcome by Love, Hope and Beauty - 1627.jpg|Time Vanquished by Love, Beauty and Hope (1627), Prado File:Simon vouet, natività della vergine, 1620 ca. 04.jpg|Nativity of the Virgin (c. 1629), San Francesco a Ripa, Rome File:Simon Vouet - Saint Mary Magdalen - 1988.108 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|Saint Mary Magdalene (c. 1630), Cleveland Museum of Art File:Simon Vouet--Neptune and Amphitrite--Hearst Castle--1630s.jpg|Neptune and Amphitrite (1630s) Hearst Castle File:Simon Vouet--Woman wearing a white veil--Louvre.jpg|Woman Wearing a White Veil (1630s), Louvre File:Simon Vouet, Madonna and Child, 1633, NGA 206070.jpg|Madonna and Child (1633), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. File:Loth and his daughters mg 0028.jpg|Lot and His Daughters (1633), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg File:Simon Vouet--portrait of a man of 75--1634.jpg|Portrait of a Man Aged 75 (1634), chalk, pastel and ink on paper, private collection File:Simon Vouet - The Muses Urania and Calliope.JPG| The Muses Urania and Calliope (1634), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. File:Cérès foulant aux pieds les attributs de la guerre, Vouet.jpg|Ceres Trampling the Attributes of War (1635), Musée des Beaux-arts Thomas Henry, Cherbourg-Octeville File:Aeneas and his Father Fleeing Troy by Simon Vouet, San Diego Museum of Art.JPG|Aeneas and his Father Fleeing Troy (c. 1635), San Diego Museum of Art File:Simon Vouet--Deposition of Christ--c 1635--Le Havre--Musée Malraux.jpg|Deposition of Christ (c. 1635), Musée d'art moderne André Malraux, Le Havre File:Simon Vouet 001.jpg|Allegory of Wealth (c. 1635–1640), Louvre File:Simon Vouet (1590-1649) - Diana - RCIN 403930 - Hampton Court Palace.jpg|Diana (1637), Cumberland Gallery, Hampton Court Palace File:Simon Vouet - Sleeping Venus - WGA25370.jpg|Sleeping Venus (1630–1640), Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest File:Simon Vouet - Heavenly Charity - WGA25376.jpg|Heavenly Charity (c. 1640), Louvre File:Simon Vouet--The Toilet of Venus--1640--Carnegie Museum of Art--Pittsburgh.jpg|The Toilet of Venus (c. 1640), Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh File:Simon Vouet--The Death-of-Dido--c 1641.jpg|The Death of Dido (c. 1641), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dole File:Artemisia Building the Mausolaeum (Simon Vouet) - Nationalmuseum - 22229.tif|Artemisia Building the Mausoleum (early 1640s), Nationalmuseum, Stockholm File:Simon Vouet (French - Venus and Adonis - Google Art Project.jpg|Venus and Adonis (1642), J. Paul Getty Museum File:Louis XIII by Vouet Louvre INV 8506) n01.jpg|Portrait of Louis XIII (1643), Louvre File:Vouet Simon Vierge Hesselin.jpg|Hesselin Madonna or Madonna of the Oak Cutting (c. 1640–1645), Louvre File:Simon Vouet Time Vanquished by Love Venus and Hope.jpg|Time Vanquished by Love, Venus and Hope (1640–1645), Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Bourges File:VouetDraguignan (cropped).jpg|Allégorie de la Charité (1640–1645; possibly a studio work), Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Draguignan File:Simon vouet--portrait dhomme de profil tourne vers la gauche.jpg|Portrait of man in profile, turned to the left, n.d., private collection. File:Simon vouet portrait du cardinal jules mazarin.jpg|Portrait of Cardinal Jules Mazarin, n.d., private collection File:Cabinet, attributed to Pierre Gole, Paris, c. 1650, ebony, pine, interior applied with rosewood, tulipwood, oak, stained ivory, gilt bronze, mirror - California Palace of the Legion of Honor - DSC07720.JPG|Cabinet attributed to Pierre Gole (c. 1620–1684), Legion of Honor, San Francisco ==Gallery: Images of Vouet and his family==

File:Simon Vouet--Self-portrait--Uffizi.tif|Simon Vouet, Self-portrait, Uffizi File:Vouet--presumed self-portrait--1620-1625--Musée de Picardie.jpg|Simon Vouet, presumed self-portrait (c. 1620–1625), Musée de Picardie File:Ottavio Leoni, Simon Vouet, 1625, NGA 945.jpg|Ottavio Leoni, Portrait of Simon Vouet (1625) File:Vouet-autoportrait-lyon.jpg|Simon Vouet, Self-portrait (c.1626–1627) Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon File:Simon Vouet by Nicolas Mignard.jpg|Nicolas Mignard, Portrait of Simon Vouet File:Perrier--Simon Vouet--engraving--1632.jpg|François Perrier, Portrait of Simon Vouet (1632) File:Simon Vouet by Robert Van Voerst after Anthony van Dyck.jpg|Robert Van Voerst (after Anthony van Dyck), Portrait of Simon Vouet File:Francois Tortebat--Portrait of Simon Vouet.jpg|Portrait of Simon Vouet by his son-in-law, François Tortebat, Versailles File:Frederic Hillemacher--portrait of Simon Vouet--etching--1854--British Museum.jpg|Frédéric Hillemacher, Portrait of Simon Vouet (etching, 1854), British Museum File:Simon Vouet - presumed portrait of Aubin Vouet - without frame.jpg|Simon Vouet, Presumed portrait of Aubin Vouet, the artist's brother (c. 1620), Musée Réattu, Arles File:Vouet--Urulsa da Vezzo as St Catherine--1620s.jpg|Simon Vouet, Portrait of a Woman, Probably Urulsa da Vezzo, Sister-in-Law of the Artist, as St. Catherine (c. 1620s), private collection File:Simon Vouet Portrait of Virginia da Vezzo.JPG|Simon Vouet, fragment of a possible portrait of Virginia da Vezzo (c. 1624–26), Gemäldegalerie, Berlin File:Claude_Mellan,_Virginia_da_Vezzo,_1626,_NGA_73730.jpg|Claude Mellan, Portrait of Virginia da Vezzo (1626), wife of Simon Vouet File:Virginia da Vezzo, the Artist's Wife, as the Magdalen LACMA M.83.201.jpg|Simon Vouet, ''Virginia da Vezzo, the Artist's Wife, as the Magdalen'' (c. 1627), LACMA File:Simon Vouet--Portrait of Angelique Vouet--Louvre.jpg|Simon Vouet, Portrait of Angélique Vouet (his daughter), pastel, Louvre ==References==