The Pérussis Altarpiece

Nicolas Froment painted the Pérussis Altarpiece in 1480 for the family chapel of the Pérussis, prominent merchants in Aix-en-Provence. Froment was court painter to René of Anjou and the leading artist in Provence, blending Netherlandish oil technique with the strong light and Mediterranean palette of southern France. The altarpiece reflects the piety of the merchant class, who increasingly commissioned major devotional works to rival aristocratic patronage.

Netherlandish-influenced oil technique produces luminous, jewel-toned colors in the drapery, while the sharp, angular drawing of the figures retains a distinctly Provençal character. Gold leaf in the background connects the work to earlier Gothic altarpiece traditions.