French illuminator. Poyet, who lived in Tours, France, was active from at least 1483 until his death around 1503. He was a multitalented artist - illuminator, painter, draftsman, and designer of festivals - who worked for the courts of three successive French kings: Louis XI (r. 1461-83), Charles VIII (r. 1483-98), and Louis XII (r. 1498-1515). Tours was the seat of the French court and centre of the Loire school of illumination during the latter part of the 15th century. Poyet was presumably related to Mathelin (or Maturin) Poyet, who is listed as a court painter alongside Jean Fouquet in 1475. Jean Poyet is first mentioned in 1483, and in December 1491 he was among local artists paid for their work on the decorations provided to celebrate the ceremonial entry into Tours of Anne of Brittany as Queen of Charles VIII of France. In August 1497 the Queen's accounts show that Poyet was paid 153 livres tournois to illuminate a 'petites heures' for her use. For this he provided 23 miniatures and almost 300 borders. It was thought that this identified him as the artist of the famous Hours of Anne of Brittany (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, Ms. lat. 9474), until the discovery in 1868 of the document that definitely connects Jean Bourdichon with the manuscript. His mastery of perspective, subtle use of colour and light, and convincing representation of the human figure show a break from the Late Gothic style. Influences of Renaissance paintings are noticeable: Poyet traveled to Italy and experienced the works of artists such as Andrea Mantegna and Giovanni Bellini. Payment documents tell us that for Louis XI's queen, Charlotte of Savoy, Poyet painted 1,031 coats of arms to be attached to the candles and torches used at her funeral. For Charles VIII he painted a schoolbook, a treatise on the Apostles' Creed, and his portrait. In August 1497 the Queen's accounts show that Poyet was paid 153 livres tournois to illuminate a 'petites heures' for her use. For this he provided 23 miniatures and almost 300 borders. It was thought that this identified him as the artist of the famous Hours of Anne of Brittany (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, Ms. lat. 9474), until the discovery in 1868 of the document that definitely connects Jean Bourdichon with the manuscript. For Charles and Anne's ceremonial entry into Tours following their marriage, Poyet designed and supervised elaborate theatrical spectacles as part of the royal entertainment. For Louis XII, Poyet was in charge of the pageants that Tours was planning in 1498. The artist's early period, in the 1480s, reveals his mastery of perspective, subtle use of colour and light, and convincing representation of the human figure in space. His monumental approach is typical of the Renaissance and represents a break from the Late Gothic style of the previous generation of French illuminators. The defining difference is his firsthand experience of the works of Italian Renaissance painting. Poyet's mature period began in the 1490s and lasted until his death around 1503; during these years he was most productive and at the peak of his career. He began to use a lighter, more pastel palette, applying his colours with feathery, almost impressionistic, brushstrokes. Like many major artists of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, Poyet did not work alone but managed a workshop. Judging from the relatively few manuscripts they produced, however, his assistants were limited in number, for Poyet apparently hired only those illuminators capable of emulating his subtle style. Poyet's work seems to have been highly regarded in his own time. His name is included in the lists of famous painters given by Jean Lemaire in La Plaincte du Désiré (Lyon, 1504) and by Jean Pélerin in De artificiali perspectiva (Toul, 1505). Half a century later his artistic skills were rated above those of Fouquet and his two sons by Jean Breche of Tours in De rerum et verborum significatione (Paris, 1554). //