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 |