The Melun Diptych is a two-panel oil painting made about 1452 by the French court painter Jean Fouquet (1425-1480).
The diptych got its name from its initial home in Melun’s Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame. Etienne Chevalier is depicted in the left panel with his patron saint, St. Stephen, and the Virgin and Christ Child are depicted in the right panel, surrounded by cherubim.
Each wooden panel is approximately 93 by 85 centimeters in size, and the two would have been hinged together in the middle. The two paintings, which were once a diptych, have been divided.
The left panel is presently at the Staatliche Museen in Berlin, while the right panel is at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium.
The two panels are also linked with a self-portrait medallion. It would have adorned the frame and measures 6 centimeters in diameter. It is made of copper, enamel, and gold. The medallion is now housed in Paris, France’s Louvre.
Left Panel of Diptych de Melun
On the left, Étienne Chevalier, the treasurer to King Charles VII of France, kneels in a scarlet robe with a prayer book in his hand. The monarch preferred having non-aristocrats around him, such as Chevalier, since he considered they were more trustworthy than nobles.
On his right is St. Stephen, Chevalier’s patron saint, dressed in dark deacon’s robes with gold trim.
His right arm is draped across Chevalier’s shoulder, and his left hand is holding a book and a jagged rock, his symbol as he was stoned to death.
Both men are staring to the right, as if at the Virgin and child on the opposite panel. The wall behind the treasurer and his patron saint is inlaid with marble panels and adorned with intricate white and gold moldings.
The neutral colors of the tiled floor contrast sharply with the vibrant colors of the men’s robes. An etching on the wall behind Chevalier says “IER ESTIEN,” identifying him.
Because Fouquet never signed his work, this inscription has been used to connect the artwork to him. It is remarkably close to the lettering found in various miniatures attributed to him.
About Madonna and Child artwork
The Madonna and Child are represented in the right panel, seated on an exquisite gold throne. The Madonna is dressed in a blue gown, a white mantle, and a jewel-encrusted crown.
The child sits on her lap, pointing to the left with His left hand towards the patron and the saint. The two are encircled by blue and red cherubim, which contrast sharply with the Virgin’s and child’s pale complexion.
Although the characters are accurately rendered, the ambiance is otherworldly, as historian Roger Fry describes it as a dreamlike state of sentimentalism.
The Madonna is represented here as the Queen of Heaven, revealing her as the link between heaven and earth.
She is both human and extraterrestrial. The unusual hues, red, white, and blue, have been attributed to reflect the king’s heraldic colors. The Virgin is thought to be an idealized image of Agnès Sorel, King Charles VII’s mistress who died two years previously.
Many at the time thought Sorel to be “the most beautiful woman in the world,” making her an easy choice to model the Virgin after. Etienne Chevalier, the king’s minister of finance, was the executor of her bequest.
Her attire and physical characteristics have been likened to other depictions of Sorel, such as another picture by Fouquet in which her dress is extremely similar to the diptych.
It’s also possible that the woman is Chevalier’s wife, Catherine Bude, whose tomb the diptych was draped over in Notre Dame, Melun.
