Portrait of Jean le Bon, King of France

In September 1356 King Jean II of France was captured by the English at the battle of Poitiers and held prisoner in England until 1360. The Louvre dates this portrait to around those same years, 1355 to 1360, and it is the earliest surviving independent easel portrait in French painting, one man's likeness standing on its own, outside any altarpiece or book. The king is shown in strict profile against a gold ground, the way a ruler's head appears on a medal, with no crown. The painter, whose name is lost, gave him a long nose, a heavy jaw and a short reddish beard. The words across the top, Jehan Roy de France, were probably added later. The panel was found at the château d'Oiron in Poitou, passed to the collector Roger de Gaignières, and in 1717 was kept back from his sale for the royal library.