Philippe de Champaigne Paintings Between Jansenism and Sacred Art
Philippe de Champaigne is the most rigorous religious painter of seventeenth century France. The Philippe de Champaigne paintings that survive today carry the calm Flemish observation of his Brussels training into the strict Jansenist spirituality of the Port-Royal convent and the French Catholic Counter-Reformation. He was the favourite painter of Cardinal Richelieu, the official portraitist of Anne of Austria, and the most loyal artistic friend of the Jansenist community at Port-Royal-des-Champs, where his daughter took the veil.
This article gathers ten of his finest religious works, the panels that fill the Louvre and the great French museums with his austere Jansenist devotion.
From Brussels to Paris and Port-Royal
Philippe de Champaigne was born on 26 May 1602 in Brussels, then the capital of the Spanish Netherlands, into a modest family of local craftsmen. He trained first in Brussels with the landscape painter Jacques Fouquière before moving in 1621 to Paris, where he worked under Nicolas Duchesne at the decoration of the Palais du Luxembourg for Marie de’ Medici. By 1628 he had been naturalised French and appointed painter to Queen Marie de’ Medici, a position he kept until her exile in 1631.
His mature career was shaped by two close relationships. He was the favourite painter of Cardinal Richelieu, whom he portrayed in some of the most reproduced political portraits of the seventeenth century. And from the late 1640s onward he was the artistic friend and supporter of the Jansenist community of Port-Royal-des-Champs, where his daughter Catherine took the veil in 1648. He died on 12 August 1674 in Paris, the most influential Flemish-French religious painter of his generation.
The Ex-Voto of 1662
The single most famous painting of Champaigne’s career, the great Ex-Voto of 1662 shows his daughter Sister Catherine de Sainte-Suzanne being healed of a paralysis through the prayers of Mother Catherine-Agnès Arnault of the Port-Royal convent. Champaigne painted it as a votive offering of thanks for the miraculous cure, and the picture became the visual emblem of the entire Jansenist movement. The two nuns are shown in their white Cistercian habits with a red cross on the breast, illuminated by a soft beam of supernatural light entering from the upper left.
The painting is at the Louvre Museum in Paris, Room 913 of the Department of Paintings.
Dead Christ
This great panel of around 1654 shows the body of Christ stretched out alone on the burial shroud after being taken down from the cross. There are no mourners, no Virgin, no angels. The viewer is left alone with the dead saviour, illuminated by a single source of light against a deep dark ground. The composition is one of the most austere religious paintings of the entire seventeenth century, perfectly in keeping with the Jansenist insistence on the solitary meditation of the sinner before the saviour.
The painting is at the Louvre Museum, in Room 913.
The Translation of the Bodies of Saint Gervais and Saint Protais
Painted in 1652 for the church of Saint-Gervais in Paris, this great altarpiece shows the medieval translation of the relics of the two early Christian martyrs Gervase and Protasius from their original burial place to the Christian cathedral. The composition is built on the classical Atticism that Champaigne developed in close dialogue with his contemporary Eustache Le Sueur, with the figures arranged in a calm classical procession across the foreground.
The painting is at the Louvre Museum.
The Annunciation
The Virgin kneels in a calm Flemish interior at the moment when the angel Gabriel appears to her with the divine message. Champaigne paints the scene with the same austere classical balance as his other religious panels, with the figures arranged in a calm triangular composition against a deep architectural space.
The painting is at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg.
The Presentation in the Temple
The eight-day-old Christ is presented at the Temple of Jerusalem by the Virgin and Joseph, where the old prophet Simeon recognises in him the Messiah. Champaigne paints the scene with the same Atticist clarity as his other altarpieces, the figures arranged in calm classical balance under the architecture of the Temple.
The painting is at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels.
Christ Healing the Blind
The Gospel scene from John 9 shows Christ healing the man born blind by anointing his eyes with clay and saliva. Champaigne paints the moment with the dramatic simplicity of his late Jansenist manner, the saviour reaching forward with his hand while the blind man tilts his face toward the touch.
The painting is at the Timken Museum of Art in San Diego.
The Dream of Saint Joseph
An angel appears to the sleeping Joseph in his bed to warn him of Herod’s plan to kill the Christ child and to instruct him to flee with the holy family to Egypt. Champaigne paints the moment with the same calm classical balance as his other religious panels, with the angel hovering above the sleeping Joseph in a hushed nocturnal light.
The painting is at the National Gallery in London.
Mary Magdalene
The penitent Mary Magdalene kneels in prayer in the wilderness with the skull of contemplation and the open book of devotion beside her. Champaigne paints the figure with the same Jansenist austerity as his other late religious panels, with the saint shown in three-quarter view against a deep dark ground.
The painting is at the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo.
Saint Augustine
The great Latin Father Saint Augustine is shown at his writing desk, the flame of divine illumination above his head, his hand raised in inspired writing. Champaigne paints the figure with the calm Italianate balance of his mature manner, with the architecture of the bishop’s study rendered in austere classical perspective. Augustine was the central theological reference of the Jansenist movement, which read his late writings on grace and predestination as the founding statements of their position.
The painting is at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Virgin and Sleeping Child
This intimate Marian devotional panel shows the Virgin watching over the sleeping Christ child in a hushed Flemish interior. The composition is one of Champaigne’s most tender religious paintings, with the soft modelling of the two faces lit by a single source of warm interior light.
The painting is at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Agen.
For more context on Champaigne’s seventeenth century French world, see our articles on his Atticist contemporary Eustache Le Sueur, on the great Nicolas Poussin, and on the candle-lit Georges de La Tour.
Summary Table of Philippe de Champaigne’s Religious Paintings
| Name | Artist | Date | Medium | Museum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Ex-Voto of 1662 | Philippe de Champaigne | 1662 | Oil on canvas | Louvre Museum, Paris |
| Dead Christ | Philippe de Champaigne | c. 1654 | Oil on canvas | Louvre Museum, Paris |
| The Translation of the Bodies of Saint Gervais and Saint Protais | Philippe de Champaigne | 1652 | Oil on canvas | Louvre Museum, Paris |
| The Annunciation | Philippe de Champaigne | c. 1644 | Oil on canvas | Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg |
| The Presentation in the Temple | Philippe de Champaigne | c. 1648 | Oil on canvas | Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels |
| Christ Healing the Blind | Philippe de Champaigne | c. 1655 | Oil on canvas | Timken Museum of Art, San Diego |
| The Dream of Saint Joseph | Philippe de Champaigne | c. 1642 to 1643 | Oil on canvas | National Gallery, London |
| Mary Magdalene | Philippe de Champaigne | c. 1657 | Oil on canvas | National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo |
| Saint Augustine | Philippe de Champaigne | c. 1645 to 1650 | Oil on canvas | Los Angeles County Museum of Art |
| Virgin and Sleeping Child | Philippe de Champaigne | c. 1655 | Oil on canvas | Musée des Beaux-Arts, Agen |
Conclusion
Champaigne is the most concentrated religious painter of the French seventeenth century. He brought to his Catholic altarpieces the patience of his Brussels training and the strict Jansenist spirituality of his Port-Royal years, and the resulting body of work has a sobriety that distinguishes it from every other French religious painter of his generation. The great Ex-Voto of 1662, with its two white-habited Cistercian nuns lit by a single beam of supernatural light, remains the founding visual statement of French Jansenist piety, and it has shaped the way we still see the seventeenth century French Catholic imagination at its most austere and devout.
Important Facts About Philippe de Champaigne
- Philippe de Champaigne was born on 26 May 1602 in Brussels, then the capital of the Spanish Netherlands, into a modest family of local craftsmen and trained first in his native city under the landscape painter Jacques Fouquière.
- He moved to Paris in 1621 to work under Nicolas Duchesne on the decoration of the Palais du Luxembourg for Marie de’ Medici, was naturalised French in 1628, and was appointed painter to the queen the same year.
- Champaigne is the central religious painter of seventeenth century French Atticism and the favourite painter of the Jansenist community of Port-Royal-des-Champs, where his daughter Catherine took the veil as Sister Catherine de Sainte-Suzanne in 1648.
- His most famous religious work is the great Ex-Voto of 1662, painted in thanksgiving for the miraculous healing of his daughter, and now displayed in Room 913 of the Department of Paintings at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
- He died on 12 August 1674 in Paris, having served as the favourite painter of Cardinal Richelieu and Queen Anne of Austria, and his austere classical manner shaped the religious imagination of the French Catholic seventeenth century.
Questions and Answers About Philippe de Champaigne Paintings
What is Philippe de Champaigne’s most famous painting?
The single most famous religious work is the great Ex-Voto of 1662 at the Louvre, painted in thanksgiving for the miraculous healing of his daughter Catherine. Among his portrait works, the great triple portrait of Cardinal Richelieu at the National Gallery in London is the most reproduced.
Where can I see Philippe de Champaigne paintings today?
The Louvre in Paris holds the richest single collection of his religious works, including the Ex-Voto, the Dead Christ, and the Saint Gervais translation. The National Gallery in London, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art all hold significant religious panels.
What style is Philippe de Champaigne associated with?
Champaigne is one of the central voices of seventeenth century French Atticism, the calm classical religious manner that he shared with Eustache Le Sueur. His mature style fuses the patient observed Flemish realism of his Brussels training with a strict Jansenist austerity, and the result is a religious painting that is at once classical, devout, and emotionally restrained.
What is Jansenism?
Jansenism was a seventeenth century Catholic theological movement, named after the Dutch bishop Cornelius Jansen, that emphasised the absolute primacy of divine grace over human free will, drawing on the late writings of Saint Augustine. The movement had its centre at the Cistercian convent of Port-Royal-des-Champs near Versailles, and Champaigne was the favourite painter of the community from the late 1640s until his death in 1674.
Why did Champaigne paint the Ex-Voto?
In January 1662 his daughter Sister Catherine de Sainte-Suzanne, who had been paralysed for fourteen months at the convent of Port-Royal, was reported to have been miraculously healed through the prayers of the abbess Mother Catherine-Agnès Arnault. Champaigne painted the great Ex-Voto as a votive offering of thanks for the cure, and the picture became the most famous visual statement of the Jansenist movement of which he was the artistic friend.
How does Champaigne compare with Le Sueur?
The two painters were almost exact contemporaries and shared the same Atticist classical principles. Le Sueur was younger, less rigorous, and more lyrical, with a particular love for monastic subjects. Champaigne was more austere, more politically engaged (especially in his Richelieu portraits), and more deeply Jansenist in his religious imagination. Together they define the calm pole of French seventeenth century classical religious painting.
Where can I buy a canvas reproduction of a Philippe de Champaigne painting?
You can buy a canvas reproduction of a Philippe de Champaigne painting at jesuschrist.pictures. Our shop offers high-quality canvas reproductions, ready to hang in a home, prayer corner or parish.
