Jacques Foucquet
Encyclopedia
Jacques Foucquet was a French artist primarily active in Sweden. Before becoming active as a painter in Stockholm
, Sweden, Jacques Foucquet was employed as an officer and engineer in the court of Louis XIV. He was educated at Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in Paris, and heavily influenced by Charles Le Brun
. He arrived in Sweden in 1694 with a group of other French artists, on the invitation of Nicodemus Tessin the Younger
, who needed artists for the planned monumental historical and allegorical works in the newly built Royal Palace in Stockholm.
Foucquet's most famous works in the Stockholm palace are the three central ceiling panels (1700–02) of the vault in the State Apartment of the north wing, the Gallery of Charles XI of Sweden
. The paintings in this gallery and in the adjoining Cabinet of Peace and Cabinet of War depict a victorious king on the battle field during the Scanian War
and the peace that followed when the Danish princess Ulrike Eleonora
, sister of Christian V, married Charles XI. The iconography represent the King dressed as a classical military commander of Rome and the works are steeped in classical mythology.
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden, Jacques Foucquet was employed as an officer and engineer in the court of Louis XIV. He was educated at Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in Paris, and heavily influenced by Charles Le Brun
Charles Le Brun
Charles Le Brun , a French painter and art theorist, became the all-powerful, peerless master of 17th-century French art.-Biography:-Early life and training:...
. He arrived in Sweden in 1694 with a group of other French artists, on the invitation of Nicodemus Tessin the Younger
Nicodemus Tessin the Younger
Count Nicodemus Tessin the Younger was a Swedish Baroque architect, city planner, and administrator.The son of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and the father of Carl Gustaf Tessin, Tessin the Younger was the middle-most generation of the brief Tessin dynasty, which have had a lasting influence on...
, who needed artists for the planned monumental historical and allegorical works in the newly built Royal Palace in Stockholm.
Foucquet's most famous works in the Stockholm palace are the three central ceiling panels (1700–02) of the vault in the State Apartment of the north wing, the Gallery of Charles XI of Sweden
Charles XI of Sweden
Charles XI also Carl, was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period in Swedish history known as the Swedish empire ....
. The paintings in this gallery and in the adjoining Cabinet of Peace and Cabinet of War depict a victorious king on the battle field during the Scanian War
Scanian War
The Scanian War was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark-Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish provinces along the border with Sweden and in Northern Germany...
and the peace that followed when the Danish princess Ulrike Eleonora
Ulrike Eleonora of Denmark
Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark was the Queen consort of Sweden as the spouse of King Charles XI of Sweden.The name Ulrike is a Danish version of the name; in Swedish she is called Ulrika Eleonora den äldre, which in English means Ulrica Eleanor the Elder), to distinguish her from her daughter, the...
, sister of Christian V, married Charles XI. The iconography represent the King dressed as a classical military commander of Rome and the works are steeped in classical mythology.