Not a single drawing or painting that has come down to us from this
period, which was remarkable for its enormous production in Court
portraiture, bears the signature of Jehan Clouet; but as a number of
the best portrait drawings in the famous Chantilly collection—notably
that of the _Preux de Marignan_—are obviously from the same hand, and
extend, as can be proved from the age of the personages portrayed, from
1514 to 1540,—the very years when Jean Clouet is known to have worked
in France,—it is quite reasonable to assume that artist to be the
author of this group of drawings. Their superiority over all the other
drawings of the period would account for the fame enjoyed by the elder
Clouet among his contemporaries.
On the strength of these drawings it has been possible to ascribe
to Jean Clouet a few painted portraits which are obviously based
on the drawings and show, apart from such differences as must
necessarily result from the use of a different medium, the same
characteristics—firm draughtsmanship, a sure delicate touch in the
delineation of the features, and also a certain stiffness and hardness
of contour which are never to be found in the otherwise very similar
but always supple and masterly handling of Holbein. It is now known
that practically all the painted portraits of the period were executed
from the delicate drawings in black and red chalk, of which so vast a
number have come down to our day. But the fact that the vast majority
of these drawings served as models to different painters leaves the
question of attribution in a state of uncertainty. The mere tracing
back of a picture to some extant drawing of acknowledged authenticity
cannot be taken as proof of their common origin.
Two pictures at the Louvre are attributed to Jean Clouet. Both are
portraits of _François I., King of France_, but only the smaller one
(No. 127) appears to be from his hand. Clouet’s royal patron is here
depicted in three-quarter profile to the right, at the age of about
thirty, so that the picture may be assumed to have been painted about
the year 1524. It is based on a drawing in the Chantilly collection.
The larger _Portrait of François I._ (No. 126) has at various times
been attributed to Jean Clouet, Mabuse, and Joost van Cleef, but is, as
has been pointed out by M. Dimier, pronouncedly Italian in colour and
in the treatment of the costume and hands.