Evariste Fouret (1807-1863): A French Collector, Amateur and Connoisseur of Trecento Painting
Corentin Dury
The collection of Evariste Fouret (1807-63) consisted of more than four hundred paintings, of which until recently all that was known was an auction catalogue and twenty-three paintings bought by the city of Le Mans (his hometown) after his death. This collector is of importance to art historians since he had an early interest in Italian Trecento and Quattrocento painting. This paper is the result of the discovery of unpublished documents and of a catalogue written in 1842. It reveals a passionate collector. As early as the 1830s Fouret had a special preference for Trecento Sienese painters and seems to have been quite a connoisseur of late Medieval and early Renaissance painting.