1558 -1614 · Blois, Fontainebleau, Paris and court of Henri IV

Royal portrait, palace decor and mannerist elegance make Jacob Bunel an important actor in the second school of Fontainebleau and in artistic renewal under Henri IV.

Jacob Bunel was born in Blois in 1558 into a family of painters. His father François Bunel, himself attached to the court, transmitted to him the basics of the profession and introduced it into a culture where portrait, decor and royal service are closely linked. A stay in Spain is mentioned in ancient sources, while a visit to Venice in 1591 sheds light on his attention to color. Back in France, Bunel became one of Henri IV's painters. Back in France, Bunel became one of Henri IV's painters. With Toussaint Dubreuil, he participated in the major decorative projects of the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th century, notably in Fontainebleau and in the Petite Galerie du Louvre. A large part of these sets disappeared or were transformed, which makes the paintings and drawings preserved are particularly precious. Bunel belongs to the second school of Fontainebleau. He inherits from mannerism his elegant silhouettes, his measured gestures and his taste for scholarly compositions, but he adapts them to the image politics of the new reign. The portrait of Henry IV not only shows a face: armor, royal order, posture and gaze rebuild authority after the Wars of Religion. In his more intimate figures, such as The Flautist, the precision of the costume meets more direct attention to the model. In his more intimate figures, such as The Flautist, the precision of the costume meets more direct attention to the model. In his more intimate figures, such as The Flautist, the precision of the costume meets more direct attention to the model. In his more intimate figures, such as The Flautist, the precision of the costume meets more direct attention to the model. In his more intimate figures, such as The Flautist, the precision of the costume meets more direct attention to the model. In his more intimate figures, such as The Flautist, the precision of the costume meets more direct attention to the model. In his more intimate figures, such as The Flautist, the precision of the costume meets more direct attention to Bunel works with his wife Marguerite Bahuche, a painter also from an artistic background. Protestant in a court in religious recomposition, he occupies a position representative of his time. He died in Paris in 1614. His surviving work, relatively rare, links the refinement of Fontainebleau to the birth of a more sober and more political French court painting. The "Jacob Bunel" selection notably compares Henry IV, King of France and The Vision of Constantine. His reading favors space.

Bunel transforms the royal portrait into architecture of power: face, armor, emblem and gesture come together to make the new reign visible.