Monday, March 18, 2019

Guillaume Courtois, Il Borgognone (1628-1679) - Rome

Guillaume Courtois
Self-portrait
ca. 1655-65
oil on canvas
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Besançon

Guillaume Courtois
David and Goliath
ca. 1650-60
oil on canvas
Pinacoteca Capitolina, Rome

Guillaume Courtois
St Abdon and St Sennen bearing off for burial the remains of early Christian Martyrs
ca. 1656-57
fresco
Basilica San Marco Evangelista, Rome

Guillaume Courtois
St Abdon and St Sennen bearing off for burial the remains of early Christian Martyrs
ca. 1656-60
etching
British Museum

"At about age seven, painter's son Guillaume Courtois left France for Italy with his teenage brother.  They followed the military campaigns that his brother drew, then studied in Bologna, Florence, and Siena, arriving in Rome by 1638.  Courtois [also known as Guglielmo Cortese or as Il Borgognone] trained himself by copying Giovanni Lanfranco's and Andrea Sacchi's works and by drawing from nude models.  He first studied under Pietro da Cortona, his most important teacher, while painting a fresco in an elegant Roman palazzo in 1656.  In the following year he completed his first major public project, two frescoes for a Roman church.  They display a strong sense of drama and a more naturalistic approach to the figure than did his later work, which followed the popular classicizing manner of Roman late Baroque painting.  Courtois also made many red chalk studies that demonstrate his great care in preparing the figures for his paintings."

– from curator's notes at the Getty Museum

Guillaume Courtois
Dock Scene
ca. 1660-64
drawing
Art Institute of Chicago

Guillaume Courtois
Seated Diana
before 1679
drawing
Museo del Prado, Madrid

Guillaume Courtois
Figure and Drapery Study of Woman in Motion
ca. 1664-66
drawing
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Guillaume Courtois
Sacrifice of Isaac
before 1679
oil on canvas
National Trust, Hinton Ampner, Hampshire

Guillaume Courtois and Abraham Brueghel
Female Figure (by Courtois) with Fruit and Flowers (by Brueghel)
before 1679
oil on canvas
private collection

Guillaume Courtois and Abraham Brueghel
Putti (by Courtois) with Fruit and Flowers (by Brueghel)
before 1679
oil on canvas
National Trust for Scotland, Brodie Castle

Guillaume Courtois
Study from above of Young Woman carrying a Pot
1645
drawing with colored chalks on blue paper
Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf

attributed to Guillaume Courtois
Holy Family
before 1679
drawing
Royal Collection, Great Britain

Guillaume Courtois
Adoration of the Magi
ca. 1665
drawing
Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Guillaume Courtois
Study for God the Father
ca. 1660
drawing
Art Institute of Chicago