Froment, Nicolas

Nicolas Froment was appointed to the court of King René of Anjou. One of Froment's few remaining works is his small diptych portraits of the king and his wife Jeanne de Laval from 1480 known as the Matheron Diptych. The portraits are housed in a small hinged, wallet-like piece. It was so named because both sides of the cover include a Metheron's device of a jeweled crown set over a stalk of lilies. The royal couple also appears in triptych which also includes the figure of God appearing to Moses and the burning bush, along with the Madonna and child.

Froment was born around 1435 at Uzés in Provence, France. He spent most of his career in southern France and worked mainly in Avignon. His earliest work appears to be Raising of Lazarus, a triptych signed and dated 18 May 1461. The work may contain a self-portrait of Froment (central panel, far left) and Francesco Coppini, Bishop of Terni and Papal Legate, the prelate who ordered the piece as a gift for Cosimo dé Medici to curry political favor, appears on the exterior of the wings praying to the Virgin. Medici gave the work to the Franciscan convent of Bosco ai Frati, Mugello.

Froment also painted the triptych Altar with the Burning Bush which can be seen in the cathedral at Aix.

Froment and Quarton (Enguerrand Charenton) are credited with the Avignon school of painting, which remained popular until the 1800s although some works once attributed to the Avignon school have since been reassigned. It blended Italian and Dutch styling but no longer has clearly defined attributes. Froment is also considered one of the primary representatives of the latter half of the 15th century for French-Provençal painting.

Nicolas Froment died in Avignon in 1484.