Jean Monier (or Mosnier; 1600–1656) was a French

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

. He was born and died in

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher Departments of France, department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the mos ...

. Monier's father also named Jean was a glass painter and early mentor. According to his earliest biographer, Jean Bernier, Monier executed for Queen Marie de Medici a copy the Virgin of the Green Cushion by

Andrea Solari Andrea Solari (also Solario) (1460–1524) was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Milanese school. He was initially named ''Andre del Gobbo'', but more confusingly as ''Andrea del Bartolo'' a name shared with two other Italian painters, ...

, which she gave to the Convent of the Cordeliers as a replacement for the original that she had accepted as a gift from the nuns. She was so impressed with his work that she rewarded him with a significant payment. He used the money to travel to

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

where he became familiar with the works of

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythologic ...

. In 1623 Monier returned to France, and performed some additional work for Queen Marie. He then retired to briefly to

Chartres Chartres () is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 1 ...

, then eventually returned to Blois. Bernier also credits him with the discovery of a Holy Family by

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

that had laid forgotten, gathering dust, in an attic of the

Château de Blois A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking re ...

. The painting rediscovered by Mosnier has been identified by Jan Sammer as The Holy Family of Francis I, Louvre inv. 604. This painting had been commissioned by

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X (; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political and banking Med ...

for Claude de France, who died at the

in 1524. Jean Monier's son

Pierre Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

also became a painter. Monier died at Blois in 1656.

Works

* La magnificence royale (

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

)

References

* Jean Bernier, ''Histoire de Blois'', Paris, 1682, pp. 569–572 * Jan Sammer, ''Tommaso Vincidor and the Flemish Romanists'' in ''Late Raphael: Proceedings of the International Symposium'', Madrid, 2013, p. 124-125. * Émile Bellier de La Chavignerie et

Louis Auvray Louis Auvray (; 7 April 1810 in Valenciennes – 27 April 1890 in Paris) was a French sculptor and art critic. He was the pupil of David d'Angers and was the brother of Félix Auvray, a painter. He continued the ''Dictionnaire Général des Arti ...

, ''Dictionnaire général des artistes de l'école française'', Paris, Renouard, 1882–1885, p. 132

External links

Jean Mosnier (French)''Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi''
a fully digitized exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries, which contains material on Jean Monier (see index) 1600 births 17th-century French painters People from the County of Blois French male painters 1656 deaths {{France-painter-17thC-stub