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To celebrate the launching of our French edition, we have chosen Jean Fouquet’s, Virgin and Child (Antwerp Museum, Photo Oronoz).
This masterpiece of French Gothic Art was painted around the middle of the 15th century. It was completed after a stay in Italy requested by Étienne Chevalier, treasurer to the King of France, Charles VII.
Tradition leads us to believe that the figure of the Virgin is a portrait of the King’s lover, Agnès Sorel. This work, painted on wood, probably was commissioned to satisfy a wish of the young woman upon her death. Chevalier was her executor.
In this beautiful image we sense an echo of the most spiritual work of Machaut, Our Lady’s Mass. The same refined mystery, the same strange grandeur. |
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