JEAN CLOUET (C. 1485-90?-1540/1)
Portrait of a Man Holding a Volume of Petrarch
circa 1530circa 1535RCIN 404421
The poetry of Petrarch was much appreciated at the court of Francis I (for whom Jean Clouet worked) but the sitter here remains unidentified. Delicate brushstrokes build up forms in a comparable way to the close hatching in a black and red chalk study for this painting (Musée Condé, Chantilly). Clouet’s technique is in marked contrast to Holbein’s precise single outlines.