<<
Jacques Gaultier
late 16th c - before 1660
French lutenist and
composer, sometimes known as Gautier d´Angleterre; he was probably not related to Denis and
Ennemond Gaultier nor to Pierre Gaultier (I) and certainly not to Pierre Gaultier (II). He left
France in 1617 after beeing involved in a murder and fled to England, where he was attached to
the court from 1625.
He is mentioned in court records until about 1640, and his post was given to another at the
Restoration in 1660. In 1627 he was imprisoned in the Tower of London and tortured for making
scandalous remarks about King Charles I, his patron the Duke of Buckingham and Queen Henrietta
Maria, whom he taught the lute.
He seems to have been restored to favour by about 1630, when he sat for the portraitist
Lievens, probably at court. He went to the Netherlands in 1630 and later to Madrid, where he
performed before the court; he may at that time have been Van Dyck´s model for a portrait now
in the Prado. He took part in the masque The Triumph of Peace
in 1634 and in Britannia triumphans in 1637. Contemporaries praised his brilliant,
accurate and smooth playing; for example Constantijn Huygens, who corresponded with him,
complimented his playing in 1622. A few of Gaultier´s compositions are found in manuscripts (
at D-ROu and GB-En).
Monique Rollin