Jacques Courtois

Jacques Courtois or Giacomo Cortese, called il Borgognone or le Bourgignon (12 December 1621 - 14 November 1675) was a French-Italian painter, draughtsman and etcher. He was mainly active in Rome and Florence and became known as the leading battle painter of his age. He also created history paintings and portraits. He became a Jesuit later in life but continued to paint.

Jacques Courtois was born in Saint-Hippolyte, near Besançon (Doubs) in France as the son of the obscure painter Jean-Pierre Courtois. Very little is known about Guillaume’s youth but it is assumed he received his initial training from his father. He had two younger brothers who also became painters Guillaume (Guglielmo Cortese) (1628 - 1679) and Jean-François (c. 1627-?). As his brother was later also known as 'il Borgognone' (a reference to their origins in Burgundy, called Bourgogne in French), some of the works of the brothers have been confused.

The father took his sons to Italy around 1636 when they were still young. They first travelled to Milan. According to contemporary biographers he served for three years in the Spanish army. During this time he drew marches and battles, fight scenes, landscapes and military costumes. He then abandoned the weapons and studied for some time in Milan with an unidentified sculptor. He moved to Bologna in 1639 where he first entered the studio of Jérôme Colomès, a painter from Lorraine. According to early Italian biographer Filippo Baldinucci Courtois' talent got noticed in Bologna by prominent painters Guido Reni and Francesco Albani. He continued his apprenticeship in Siena, where he studied for some time at the school of Astolfo Petrazzi.

It is possible that the brothers Guillaume and Jacques remained together until the later 1640s. He stayed for a short time in Florence where he met two Northern painters Jan Asselijn, a battle painter, and Matthieu van Plattenberg (known as ' Monsù Montagna'), a marine artist.

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