Simon Vouet Paintings and the Drama of French Baroque Art
Simon Vouet is the painter who introduced the Italian Baroque to France. The Simon Vouet paintings that survive today brought to Paris in 1627 the dramatic Caravaggesque colour, the muscular figures, and the rich altarpiece compositions that he had absorbed during a long Italian career. He became court painter to Louis XIII and the most influential teacher of his generation, training the next great masters of French religious art including Eustache Le Sueur, Charles Le Brun, and Pierre Mignard.
This article gathers nine of his finest religious works, the panels and altarpieces that fill the great French and European collections with his Roman-Parisian Catholic devotion.
From Paris to Rome and Back
Simon Vouet was born on 9 January 1590 in Paris, the son of the painter Laurent Vouet. He showed his talent so early that he was making portraits in England at the age of fourteen, and by 1611 he was travelling in Constantinople with the French ambassador. By 1614 he had settled in Rome, where he spent the next thirteen years absorbing the dramatic Caravaggesque manner of the great Italian Baroque masters. He became prince of the Accademia di San Luca in 1624, the highest honour an artist could receive in papal Rome.
In 1627 Louis XIII recalled him to Paris, where he became the dominant painter of the French court for the next twenty-two years. He decorated the royal palaces of Saint-Germain and Fontainebleau, painted altarpieces for the great Parisian churches, and trained the next generation of French masters in his workshop. He died on 30 June 1649 in Paris, just as his pupil Le Brun was beginning to rise to prominence.
Saint Jerome and the Angel
The doctor of the Latin Church Saint Jerome is shown at his writing desk while an angel appears to him with the trumpet of the Last Judgement, the inspiration for his great translation of the Vulgate. Vouet paints the moment with the dramatic Italian Baroque vertical, with the angel descending from above and the saint looking upward in inspired awe.
The painting is at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, originally part of the Samuel H. Kress Collection.
Saint Cecilia
The patron saint of music Saint Cecilia is shown at the organ, with an angel descending to whisper into her ear and inspire her playing. Vouet paints the figure with the warm Italian Baroque colour of his Roman manner, with the rich red and gold of the saint’s robe lit against a deep dark ground.
The painting is at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, originally part of the Suida-Manning Collection.
Saint Agatha’s Vision of Saint Peter in Prison
The Sicilian virgin martyr Saint Agatha, imprisoned for refusing to renounce her Christian faith, receives a vision of Saint Peter healing her wounds. Vouet paints the moment with the dramatic Italian Baroque composition of his Roman years, with the apparition of Peter in a halo of light while Agatha kneels in adoration.
The painting is at the Palazzo Abatellis in Palermo.
Judith
The Old Testament heroine Judith is shown holding the severed head of the Assyrian general Holofernes. Vouet paints her with the Italianate elongation of his late Roman manner, with the figure caught in a dramatic chiaroscuro light against a deep dark ground.
The painting is at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
Judith with the Head of Holofernes
A second variant of the same composition, this version shows Judith in a slightly different pose, with her servant Abra holding the bag in which the head will be carried back to Bethulia. Vouet paints the moment with the same Caravaggesque drama as his other Old Testament heroines.
The painting is at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Saint Guillaume d’Aquitaine
The medieval Saint William of Aquitaine, the eighth century duke who became a hermit after his career as a soldier, is shown in his hermit’s cave with the cross of his conversion. Vouet paints the figure with the same warm Italian Baroque colour as his other late Roman panels.
The painting is at the Louvre Museum in Paris, Room 828 of the Department of Paintings.
Madonna and Child
One of Vouet’s most lyrical Marian panels, this picture shows the Virgin holding the Christ child in a calm Italianate composition. The figures are rendered with the soft modelling of his mature manner, with the rich colour of the Virgin’s robe lit against a deep dark ground.
The painting is at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Madonna with the Christ Child and the Infant Saint John
The Virgin holds the Christ child while the young Saint John the Baptist plays at their feet. Vouet paints the composition with the warm Italian Baroque sweetness of his Roman manner, with the three figures arranged in a calm triangular composition.
The painting was acquired during the Second World War for the Führermuseum and passed through the Munich Central Collecting Point after 1945.
Model for an Altarpiece in Saint Peter’s
This sketch for an altarpiece for Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, made during Vouet’s Roman years, shows the painter’s mature ability to compose ambitious Baroque religious scenes. The composition is built on the dramatic vertical of his Roman manner.
The painting is at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
For more context on Vouet’s seventeenth century French world, see our articles on his pupils Eustache Le Sueur and on his great Parisian contemporary Philippe de Champaigne, and on the French classical master Nicolas Poussin.
Summary Table of Simon Vouet’s Religious Paintings
| Name | Artist | Date | Medium | Museum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Jerome and the Angel | Simon Vouet | c. 1622 to 1625 | Oil on canvas | National Gallery of Art, Washington |
| Saint Cecilia | Simon Vouet | c. 1626 | Oil on canvas | Blanton Museum of Art, Austin |
| Saint Agatha’s Vision of Saint Peter in Prison | Simon Vouet | c. 1624 to 1626 | Oil on canvas | Palazzo Abatellis, Palermo |
| Judith | Simon Vouet | c. 1620 to 1625 | Oil on canvas | Alte Pinakothek, Munich |
| Judith with the Head of Holofernes | Simon Vouet | c. 1620 to 1625 | Oil on canvas | Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna |
| Saint Guillaume d’Aquitaine | Simon Vouet | c. 1635 to 1640 | Oil on canvas | Louvre Museum, Paris |
| Madonna and Child | Simon Vouet | c. 1635 | Oil on canvas | Louvre Museum, Paris |
| Madonna with the Christ Child and the Infant Saint John | Simon Vouet | c. 1640 | Oil on canvas | Private collection, formerly Munich Central Collecting Point |
| Model for an Altarpiece in Saint Peter’s | Simon Vouet | c. 1625 | Oil on canvas | Los Angeles County Museum of Art |
Conclusion
Vouet is the painter who introduced the Italian Baroque to France. His thirteen years in Rome, his rise to the head of the Accademia di San Luca, and his triumphant return to Paris in 1627 made him the founding voice of the French seventeenth century religious painting tradition. He trained the next generation of French masters in his Parisian workshop, including Le Sueur, Le Brun, and Mignard, and his manner shaped the official religious painting of the reign of Louis XIII and the early years of Louis XIV. Without him, the great French classical Atticism of the mid-century would have looked very different.
Important Facts About Simon Vouet
- Simon Vouet was born on 9 January 1590 in Paris, the son of the painter Laurent Vouet, and showed his talent so early that he was making portraits in England at the age of fourteen.
- He travelled to Constantinople in 1611 with the French ambassador, and by 1614 had settled in Rome, where he spent the next thirteen years absorbing the Italian Baroque masters.
- Vouet is one of the founding figures of seventeenth century French religious painting and is celebrated as the painter who introduced the Italian Baroque to Paris on his return in 1627.
- His most famous religious works are the great altarpieces of Parisian churches, including those of the Jesuit church and the Carmelite convent, and the decorative cycles of the royal palaces of Saint-Germain and Fontainebleau.
- He died on 30 June 1649 in Paris, having trained the next generation of French masters including Le Sueur, Le Brun, and Mignard, who would dominate French painting for the next half century.
Questions and Answers About Simon Vouet Paintings
What is Simon Vouet’s most famous painting?
Among his religious works, the great altarpieces of the Parisian Jesuit church and the Carmelite convent of the Saint-Sacrement are the most studied. Many of these public paintings were lost in the French Revolution and are now known only through preparatory drawings and copies. Among the surviving easel paintings, the Saint Cecilia at the Blanton and the Saint Jerome and the Angel at the National Gallery of Art in Washington are widely reproduced.
Where can I see Simon Vouet paintings today?
The Louvre in Paris holds the richest single collection. The National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Palazzo Abatellis in Palermo, the Blanton Museum in Austin, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art all hold significant works. Many of his Parisian altarpieces survive only as fragments or as preparatory drawings.
What style is Simon Vouet associated with?
Vouet is the founding voice of seventeenth century French Baroque painting. His mature style fuses the dramatic Caravaggesque chiaroscuro and the warm Bolognese colour that he absorbed during his thirteen years in Rome with a calmer classical balance that he developed in his Parisian years. His Italianate idiom shaped the entire mid-century French school.
Why did Louis XIII recall Vouet from Rome?
By the late 1620s the French king and his minister Cardinal Richelieu wanted to develop the French royal palaces and the official Catholic religious painting of the kingdom on a level with the Italian Baroque. Vouet’s reputation as prince of the Accademia di San Luca in 1624 made him the obvious candidate, and Louis XIII recalled him to Paris in 1627 to lead the great decorative campaigns of the royal palaces and the Parisian churches.
Who did Vouet train?
His Parisian workshop trained the next generation of French religious masters, including Eustache Le Sueur, Charles Le Brun (the future principal painter of Louis XIV), Pierre Mignard, Valentin de Boulogne, and many others. Through these pupils, Vouet’s Italianate Baroque manner shaped French painting for the next half century, even though Le Brun and the others eventually moved toward the more classical Atticism that defined the mid-century French school.
How does Vouet compare with Poussin?
The two painters were both French masters who spent long careers in Rome, but they represent two different French responses to the Italian Baroque. Vouet absorbed the dramatic Caravaggesque manner and brought it back to Paris as the official Baroque idiom of the royal court. Poussin remained in Rome and developed a more austere classical Atticism that became the rival French current, opposed to Vouet’s Baroque exuberance and shaping the next generation through Le Sueur and Champaigne.
Can you buy Simon Vouet paintings as canvas prints?
The shop at jesuschrist.pictures offers museum-quality canvas reproductions of the great Christian paintings, and the collection keeps growing; it is the best place to look for Simon Vouet paintings as canvas prints.
