Jean Petitot
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Jean Petitot (July 12, 1607 – April 3, 1691) was a Swiss enamel painter, who spent most of his career working for the courts of France and England.


Life

He was born at
Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...
, a member of a Burgundian family which had fled from France on account of religious difficulties. His father, Faule, was a wood carver and architect, who obtained citizenship of the Republic of Geneva in 1615.Faule Petitot
in the
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland The ''Historical Dictionary of Switzerland'' is an encyclopedia on the history of Switzerland that aims to take into account the results of modern historical research in a manner accessible to a broader audience. The encyclopedia is publish ...
Jean was the fourth son, and was apprenticed to a jeweller goldsmith named Pierre Bordier, with whom he struck up a close friendship. The two friends, dissatisfied with the progress they made in Geneva, went into France, and after working for a while with Toutin went to England with letters of introduction to Turquet de Mayerne, physician to
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
, who presented them to the king, for whom they made a St George for the badge of the order and carried out many commissions for portraits; amongst others preparing two large ones representing Rachel de Ruvigny, countess of Southampton, now at Chatsworth, and Mary Villiers, duchess of Richmond and Lennox, dated 1643, at one time in the possession of the Crown and now in the Pierpont Morgan collection. On the execution of the king, Petitot left England for Paris with the royal household, Bordier remaining in England and carrying out certain important commissions for Cromwell and the parliament. On reaching Paris, Petitot entered into partnership with a goldsmith, Jacques Bordier, a cousin of Pierre, and it seems probable from recent research in contemporary documents that the enamel portraits attributed to Petitot were really the work of the two partners collaborating, the actual drawing being the work of Petitot, while for the enamel process Bordier was mainly responsible. The two painters were given apartments in the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
, received numerous commissions from
Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...
, and painted portraits of almost every person of importance in his brilliant court. The friendship between the two lasted for thirty-five years, and was only put an end to by Bordier's death. The enamellers rendered special political services in France for the republic of Geneva, and were practically regarded as the official representatives of the republic, receiving warm thanks from the Syndics for their diplomatic work. On the revocation of the
Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...
, 1685, pressure was brought to bear upon Petitot that he should change his religion. The king protected him as long as possible, and when he was arrested, with his niece, Anne Bordier, sent Bossuet, who was
bishop of Meaux The Roman Catholic Diocese of Meaux (Latin: ''Dioecesis Meldensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Meaux'') is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the entire department of Seine-et-Marne. It was suff ...
, to convince the old man of the error of his ways. Eventually, in poor health and great despair, Petitot placed his signature to an act of abjuration, and Louis XIV, unwilling to acknowledge the true reason for the imprisonment of Petitot and for his liberation, informed one of his sons, who came to thank him for the pardon given to his father, that he was willing to fall in for once with the whim of an old man who desired to be buried with his ancestors. In 1687 therefore Petitot left Paris to return to Geneva, and, after a long and tedious inquiry, was absolved by the consistory of the church of Geneva from the crime of which they considered he had been guilty, and received back to the Huguenot communion in the church of St Gervais. In Geneva he received a very important commission from
John Sobieski John III Sobieski ( pl, Jan III Sobieski; lt, Jonas III Sobieskis; la, Ioannes III Sobiscius; 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobi ...
, king of Poland, who required portraits of himself and his queen. This was followed by numberless other commissions which the painter carried out. He died of paralysis on April 3, 1691 at
Vevey Vevey (; frp, Vevê; german: label=former German, Vivis) is a town in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne. The German name Vivis is no longer commonly used. It was the seat of the district of ...
, while in the very act of painting on the enamel a portrait of his faithful wife.


Works

Of the works of Petitot the major collection is in the Jones Bequest at the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
. There are many in the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
, sixteen at Chantilly, and seventeen at
Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
. Petitot was collected by Earl Beauchamp, the Duke of Rutland, the Duke of Richmond, the Earl of Dartrey, Alfred de Rothschild, the Portland Collection and Baroness Burdett-Coutts. Amongst Lord Dartrey's examples were portraits of Petitot and of his son, and two of the wife of Jean Petitot the younger. A second portrait of the artist belonged to the Queen of Holland, and another was in the collection of Stroehlin of Geneva. In
Pierpont Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...
's collection there were many fine examples, including three drawings on paper, the only three which appear to have survived, and the large signed miniature of the duchess of Richmond already mentioned, the largest work Petitot ever did except one Chatsworth House.


Family

Petitot married in 1651 Marguerite Cuper, and Jacques Bordier married in the same year her younger sister Anne Madeleine. He had seventeen children, among them Jean Louis Petitot, and for their benefit wrote out a little octavo volume containing some genealogical information, portraits of himself and his wife, with prayers, meditations and religious advice. He also prepared a second manuscript volume of prayers and meditations for the use of his family, and from these two books and the records of the Huguenot societies of France and England information has been obtained respecting the painter and his family.


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petitot, Jean 1607 births 1691 deaths 17th-century artists from the Republic of Geneva 17th-century French painters French male painters Portrait miniaturists French enamellers 17th-century enamellers 17th-century Swiss painters Huguenots