Jean de Court

Who is Jean de Court?

Jean de Court was an enamel painter of Limoges, who served as official portrait painter the to the monarchs of Scotland and France.

In 1567, he is recorded as court painter of Mary Queen of Scots, although it is not clear if he had actually accompanied her to Scotland. In 1572, he succeeded François Clouet as painter to the king at the court of her brother-in-law Charles IX of France, and was in turn succeeded by his son, Charles de Court, in 1584 or 1589. Jean de Court painted in 1574 a portrait of Henry III, then Duke of Anjou.

Noted enamel painter Susanne Court was also most likely a member of this de Court dynasty of enamel painters who ran a workshop over several generations in Limoges. The scenes she painted were often copied from Italian prints. Work by Susanne de Court is characterized by varying tones of blues and greens with white flesh tints, and by a delicate painterly technique. Her work is in the collections of the Frick Collection and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.