CLOUET, Jean. - Painter and draftsman, born in the Low Countries (?) c. 1485, died in Paris in 1540. He is recorded in Tours from 1516, where he also executed large altarpieces; from 1529 he settled in Paris and worked especially as a portraitist. In the service of Francis I, he produced numerous portraits of court personalities and of the king himself (Louvre, Chantilly, Uffizi), and miniatures for books (Gallic Wars, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris). His greatest merit lies in his portrait drawings, of which the museum at Chantilly possesses the most famous examples. These drawings rival those of Holbein in delicacy, but are more stylized and refined in technique and expression.
His son, François, born in Tours before 1522, died in Paris in 1572, followed his father’s style in the art of portraiture and, after the father’s death, took his place as court painter to Francis I (1541); he remained in this position under Henry II and Charles IX. He is renowned for his drawings. A painted portrait of P. Cutté in the Louvre dates from 1562; among his many portraits of princes, etc., that of Henry II in the Uffizi (1559) is one of the best known.