French still-life painter, who spent his career in Paris. In 1631 he was named as a ‘valet de chambre’ of Louis XIII. His pictures are strongly influenced by the Antwerp school of still-life painters, especially Jan Brueghel. Linard delights by his use of bright colour, his painstaking work and a curiously powerful juxtaposition of boxes and flowers. His present status is only slightly below that of Moillon, Baugin and Stoskopff.
Linard painted both fruit and flower pieces. His Basket of Flowers in the Louvre shows how relatively unskilled he was, compared to the Netherlandish contemporaries (especially the earlier generation that included Roelandt Savery and Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder). Linard could draw with precision, and presumedly followed the Netherlandish method of making very precise drawings of individual flowers from nature, but was unable to place the whole in a convincing ensemble. Such achievements in French painting came only much later in the century, with Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer.
Wooden boxes in still-lifes in the 17th century often retained the significance they had in 15th and 16th-century Madonna pieces, and denoted the shrine in which the saint was thought to lie concealed.
Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 2 minutes):
Franz Schubert: Blumenlied (Flower Song) D 431
Besides the Netherlands, the genre of still-life appeared all over Europe, flourishing in Italy, France and Spain. In France, taking his inspiration from Dutch and Flemish still-life painting, Jacques Linard specialized in still-lifes of flowers. The flower still-life in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection reflects his mature style.
Restraint and balance, softness and silence emerge from this bowl of plums which is quintessential of Jacques Linard’s refined art.
The painting is signed lower right: I. LINARD
In this still-life the Five Senses are represented in the form of objects. Hearing is clearly given a greater value than all the other senses. The open hymn-book with the words of thanksgiving ‘Laudate dominum’ forms a clear contrast to the reprehensible game of cards and the empty purse beside it - two objects representing the sense of touch.
This allegorical still-life, typical for the period, consists of objects referring to the five senses (sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste) and the four elements (fire, air, earth, water). The objects bear the Richelieu family arms.
