1644 -1717 · Rouen, Paris and royal shipyards

Powerful bodies, moving crowds and observation of real work made Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet the great renovator of French religious painting around 1700.

Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet, often called Jean III Jouvenet, was born in Rouen in 1644 into a family of painters and moved to Paris at a very young age. He formed in the orbit of Charles Le Brun, participated in the great decorations of the reign of Louis XIV and entered the Royal Academy in 1675. His first works extended the classical clarity of Le Brun and Eustache Le Sueur, but his style gradually became more colorful, more massive and closer to baroque energy. Jouvenet excels in the vast religious paintings intended for Parisian churches. The Descent from the Cross organizes the weight of Christ's body, the efforts of men and the pain of loved ones along a large descending diagonal. Between 1703 and 1706, he painted four monumental compositions for the priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs. The Miraculous Fishing shows Christ among fishermen who actually shoot at the nets; Jouvenet would have observed their work in Dieppe in order to make the gestures, muscles and imbalance of the boats credible. The Resurrection of Lazarus concentrates the scene at the threshold of the tomb: Martha and Mary, the witnesses and the deceased respond to the words of Christ in an architecture of looks and arms. Christ chasing the merchants from the Temple transforms the scene at the threshold of the tomb: Martha and Mary, the witnesses and the deceased respond to the words of Christ in an architecture of looks and arms. Christ chasing the merchants from the Temple transforms the scene into an architecture of looks and arms. Christ chasing the merchants from the Temple transforms spiritual authority into physical movement which disperses bodies, animals and goods. These subjects prove that the painter never separates miracle and sensitive experience. The spectator understands the event through weight, effort, crowds and material before even reading its theological meaning. After paralysis of the right hand, Jouvenet continued to work with the left hand, a sign of exceptional will. Died in Paris in 1717, he transmitted his language to numerous students and to his nephew Jean II Restout, whose neighboring collection extended this heritage. Died in Paris in 1717, he transmitted his language to numerous students and to his nephew Jean II Restout, whose neighboring collection extended this heritage. The "Jean Jouvenet" selection notably compares La Pêche miraculeuse and La Résurrection de Lazare. His reading favors composition.

Jouvenet makes the miracle credible through the body: the net pulls, the stone weighs, the crowd retreats and the divine word acts in a world subject to the same forces as ours.