French illuminator, a pupil of Jean Pucelle. He is first mentioned in 1331, in the service of Yoland of Flanders, Duchess of Bar. Later he left her employ to work for King John II of France (reigned 1350-64). In 1358, during John's imprisonment in London, he and his daughter Bourgot, who is also mentioned as an illuminator ('enlumineresse'), were given a house in Paris by the regent Charles, in recognition of services rendered to the King. In 1372 Jean Le Noir received gifts from Jean, Duc de Berry, for whom he must have been working at the time. Again, in a document of 1375, while living in Bourges, he is said to have received gifts from the Duc and is referred to as 'illuminator to the King and to the Duc'. Although he was employed by the most important patrons of his time, no cycles of miniatures can be assigned to him with absolute certainty. The Psalter of Bonne de Luxembourg (c. 1348, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) is considered to be his main work. Jean Le Noir is important in the history of French manuscript illumination. He continued Pucelle's idealised perfection of line masterfully, before new currents that placed greater value on the meticulous depiction of nature became more dominant. //