André Beauneveu facts for kids
André Beauneveu (born around 1335 in Valenciennes, died around 1400 in Bourges) was a talented artist from the Netherlands. He was a sculptor and a painter. He is famous for working for important people like King Charles V of France and Duke Jean de Berry. His art often looked very real, almost like sculptures, and showed a new style for his time.
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André Beauneveu's Life Story
It's hard to find much information about artists from this time. We mostly know about André Beauneveu from records of payments he received.
- In 1359, he was called "Master Andrew the Painter." He worked on a chapel for Duchess Yolande de Bar.
- By 1364, he was in Paris. He joined a big art workshop for King Charles V. The King called him "our esteemed Andreu Bauneveu our sculptor."
- From 1367 to 1372, we don't know where he was. Some people think he might have visited England.
- By 1372, Beauneveu was back in the Low Countries. He worked for different cities and rich families there.
- In 1386, he moved to Bourges. There, he worked for Duke Jean de Berry, who was one of the biggest art supporters in medieval Europe. Beauneveu became the Duke's "Superintendent of all Painting and Sculpture."
- He worked a lot on the Duke's beautiful castle at Mehun-sur-Yèvre. He also created stained glass and sculptures for the chapel in the Duke's palace in Bourges.
- After 1388, there are no more records about Beauneveu. Most people think he died around the year 1400.
Painting Books: Manuscript Illumination
One of the few artworks we know for sure was made by Beauneveu is the Psalter of Jean de Berry. A "psalter" is a book of psalms, which are religious songs or poems. This book is mentioned in a 1402 list of the Duke's treasures. It says Beauneveu made it.
Beauneveu painted 24 full-page pictures for this book. These pictures show prophets and apostles sitting on thrones. A "prophet" is someone who speaks for God, and an "apostle" was one of Jesus's main followers. The pictures face each other across 12 pages, looking like pairs of paintings.
The figures are painted in a style called "grisaille." This means they are done in shades of gray, making them look like sculptures. Beauneveu was very good at making things look real and three-dimensional, even on a flat page.
Amazing Sculptures
In 1364, King Charles V asked Beauneveu to create four marble statues. These statues were for new tombs for his grandparents, King Philip VI and Queen Joan of Burgundy. He also made one for his father, King John II of France, and one for himself.
These tombs were for the Abbey of St Denis. This was the traditional burial place for French kings. By making grand tombs for his family, King Charles V wanted to show that his family was the rightful ruler of France. The King paid Beauneveu a lot of money for this important job, showing how famous the artist was.
The tombs were made in the newest style. They had bright white marble statues of the dead people, called gisants. These statues rested on shiny black marble slabs. Sadly, the tombs were destroyed in 1793. But we know what they looked like from old drawings. The statues that survived are still at St Denis today.
The statue of King Charles V looks very real, as if he were still alive. It has his true features. The other statues in this group seem to have been made by other artists in Beauneveu's workshop. Beauneveu stopped getting paid for this project in 1366, and other artists finished it.
In 2017, two marble lions from King Charles V's destroyed tomb were sold for a lot of money at an auction.
Between 1374 and 1377, Beauneveu worked on a funeral monument for the Count of Flanders, Louis of Male. This project was never finished. But a statue of St Catherine from it still exists. It is in the Onze Lieve Vrouwkerk in Kortrijk. This statue looks very lifelike. It has a gentle pose, natural features, and a direct gaze. It shows the elegant style that people admired in Beauneveu's work.
When Beauneveu worked for Duke Jean de Berry (after 1386), he made several sculptures. These were for the castle at Mehun and the chapel of the ducal palace at Bourges. Only one piece from Mehun survives: a large bearded head now in the Louvre Museum. This head was probably part of one of twelve apostle statues. These statues would have stood against the pillars inside the palace chapel.
Other artists, like Claus Sluter, even visited Mehun to see Beauneveu's work. This shows how highly people thought of his art.
Some smaller statues of prophets from Bourges also survive. They are now in different collections. These statues show that many artists often worked together on big projects during this time. The main artist, like Beauneveu, would set the style. But many skilled workers would help create the final piece.
Paintings and Stained Glass
Records show that in the 1370s, Beauneveu also made paintings for the city hall in his hometown of Valenciennes. He also did work for the city councils of Ypres and Mechelen. Sadly, none of these paintings have survived.
Some of Beauneveu's large paintings that we can be sure about are the stained glass windows he designed. These were for Jean de Berry's "Sainte Chapelle" in Bourges. This chapel was built to be like the famous Sainte Chapelle in Paris.
The Duke's chapel was destroyed during the French Revolution. But we know what it looked like from an 18th-century painting. Some of the windows survived and were moved to the crypt of Bourges Cathedral. These amazing windows show natural-looking prophets standing in small architectural spaces. They were made in grisaille, just like his book paintings. These windows would have looked like the real sculpted prophets on the outside of the building.
Images for kids
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St. Catherine (Kortrijk)
See Also
In Spanish: André Beauneveu para niños
