Jean-Pierre Isbouts (born 1954) is a professor in the Social Sciences PhD program of Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California, and an archaeologist, author, screenwriter, director, and producer of works addressing various historical periods, particularly the time period of Jesus and that of Renaissance and post-Renaissance art.
Biography
Education and early works Born in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, Isbouts studied Attic Greek and Latin, archaeology, art history and musicology at Leiden University in 1980. He received his PhD from Columbia University in New York, writing his dissertation on the American Beaux-Arts architecture firm of Carrère and Hastings. In 1983, Isbouts wrote and directed one of the first documentary works specifically created for the LaserDisc format, and "the first successful commercial videodisc to index and show art works".Joe Saltzman, "Fine art", The San Francisco Examiner (8 August 1983), p. B12. The piece, Van Gogh Revisited, was one side of Vincent Van Gogh: A Portrait in Two Parts, examining the life and works of Vincent van Gogh; the other side features a performance of the one-man-play by its author and co-director of the project, Leonard Nimoy.
Isbouts, as executive producer, expanded this into a Great Arts Series by 1991, with multiple installments allowing users to "explore art galleries and paintings while listening to music of the period",George Cole, "A star is born – the CD system that carries sound, text and pictures", The Guardian (7 November 1991), p. 33. including installments on The French Impressionists (1991), The Art of the Czars (1992), and Dutch Masters of the 17th Century (1993). In 1995, having formed the production company Pantheon in Santa Monica, California, Isbouts extended his interests to the historical backdrop of Jesus, directing a four-hour "multimedia presentation of New Testament stories from the birth of Jesus to his Crucifixion and Resurrection" narrated by Charlton Heston, the first production of the series, Charlton Heston's Voyage through the Bible."Southern California File", The Los Angeles Times (11 November 1995), p. B11.Peter Birnie, "The seas still can be rough for the son of Moses", The Vancouver Sun (14 August 1996), p. B7, B9.Dan Bennett, "Charlton Heston's Hollywood", North County Times (18 October 1998), p. E1. In 1996, he produced Hamlet: The Game, a CD-ROM game of Shakespeare's Hamlet, combining material provided from the 1996 film adaptation by Kenneth Branagh with original footage, animation, and games and puzzles.Eric Hansen, "You're the bard in 'Hamlet' game", Tampa Bay Times (14 February 1997), p. 9T.
Writing and documentary directing career Through his documentary work with Heston, in 1998 Isbouts came to coauthor Charlton Heston's Hollywood with the actor. In 2000, Isbouts presented a three-part series examining ancient cultural and religious prophesies,Ted Shaw, "Global cataclysms predicted on series", The Windsor Star (20 July 2000), p. E7. In 2001, Isbouts directed Walt: The Man Behind the Myth, a biographical documentary film about Walt Disney, narrated by Dick Van Dyke.Walt: The Man Behind the Myth DVD (Blu-ray)-The Walt Disney Family Museium.Animated Views. In 2008, Isbouts directed Operation Valkyrie: The Stauffenberg Plot to Kill Hitler, on Operation Valkyrie,Petra Rau, Our Nazis: Representations of Fascism in Contemporary Literature and Film (2013), p. 127. which was noted as showing "the advantages offered by a film treatment of a topic" as compared to accounts in print.Anthony Brundage, Going to the Sources: A Guide to Historical Research and Writing (2017), p. 74-75.
In November 2012, Isbouts again returned to Biblical history, publishing In the Footsteps of Jesus with National Geographic.Pam Kirsch, "Here are good books to curl up with during 2013", The Vincennes Sun-Commercial (19 January 2013), p. A6.
In 2016, Isbouts published two additional books, Archaeology of the Bible: The Greatest Discoveries From Genesis to the Roman Era, also with National Geographic; and Ten Prayers that Changed the World.The Daily Oklahoman (27 February 2016), p. 2D. A 2020 Houston Chronicle article noted that "Isbouts has two main passions: the message of the historical Jesus and the artists who shared and represented those sentiments". A musicologist, Isbouts also produced recordings for several of his films.
Investigations of the Mona Lisa and Leonardo da Vinci In October 2013, Isbouts published another book examining a Renaissance art theme, The Mona Lisa Myth, examining the history and events behind the Mona Lisa in the Louvre and the Isleworth Mona Lisa, endorsing the two-Mona Lisa theory and confirming the latter's attribution to Leonardo. A companion film was released in March 2014, also directed by Isbouts, with narration by Morgan Freeman. Describing his first examination of the Isleworth Mona Lisa, Isbouts related that he was "sceptical but intrigued", stating, "I walked into the vault, it was very cold in there, and I spent about two hours with that painting. But after five minutes I recognised that this had to be a Leonardo". He described being "absolutely floored" by the quality of the preservation and the "intense luminosity of the face".
Isbouts presented a theory that the Isleworth Mona Lisa is an earlier work by Leonardo, and is the original portrait of the Florentine subject, "while the Mona Lisa in the Louvre is an allegorical representation of the Madonna Annunziata"."Art Sleuths", The Charlotte Observer (12 January 2014), p. E6. He further noted that "24 of 27 recognised Leonardo scholars have agreed this is a Leonardo".
In his 2017 book, Young Leonardo: The Evolution of a Revolutionary Artist, 1472-1499, also coauthored with Brown, Isbouts presents a theory that Leonardo also painted two versions of The Last Supper, with the second being a replica of the first painted on canvas at the request of Louis XII of France. In 2019, the pair published The da Vinci Legacy: How an Elusive 16th-Century Artist Became a Global Pop Icon. That same year, Isbouts edited and wrote a section of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa: New Perspectives, further exploring the evidence of Leonardo having painted the Isleworth Mona Lisa.
Works
Books The Dalí Legacy (Apollo Publishers, 2020), with Christopher Heath Brown Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa: New Perspectives (Fielding University Press, 2019), as editor and contributing author The Da Vinci Legacy (Apollo Publishers, 2019), with Christopher Heath Brown The Search for Heaven: A historian investigates the case for the afterlife (Pantheon Press, 2019) The Angels of War: A Novel of World War I (Pantheon Press, 2018) Young Leonardo: The Evolution of a Revolutionary Artist, 1472-1499 (Thomas Dunne Books, 2017), with Christopher Heath Brown Archaeology of the Bible: The Greatest Discoveries From Genesis to the Roman Era (National Geographic, 2016) Ten Prayers That Changed the World (National Geographic, 2016) Jesus: An Illustrated Life (National Geographic, 2015) The Story of Christianity: A Chronicle of Christian Civilization From Ancient Rome to Today (National Geographic, 2014) The Mona Lisa Myth (Pantheon Press, 2013), with Christopher Heath Brown Angels in Flanders: A Novel of World War I (Pantheon Press, 2013) National Geographic's Who's Who in the Bible (National Geographic, 2013) National Geographic's In the Footsteps of Jesus (National Geographic, 2012) From Moses to Muhammad: The Shared Origins of Judaism, Christianity and Islam (2011) Young Jesus: Restoring the "Lost Years" of a Social Activist and Religious Dissident (Sterling Publishing, 2008) National Geographic's The Biblical World: An Illustrated Atlas (National Geographic, 2007) Charlton Heston's Hollywood (GT Publishing, 1998), with Charlton Heston
Filmography Year Title Functioned as Notes 2017 The Search for the Last Supper Writer, director TV movie documentary 2014 The Mona Lisa Myth Writer, director TV movie documentary 2008 Operation Valkyrie: The Stauffenberg Plot to Kill Hitler Writer, director Video documentary 2007 Beyond 'The Golden Compass': The Magic of Philip Pullman Writer, director Video documentary 2005 The Quest for Peace Writer, director TV movie 2004 Howard Hughes: The Real Aviator Writer Video documentary 2001 Walt: The Man Behind the Myth Writer, director Documentary series episode 1999 Inside the Cold War with Sir David Frost Writer TV movie documentary 1997 Terror on the Titanic Director Video documentary 1992 Dutch Masters of the 17th Century Director Video documentary 1992 The Art of the Czars Director Video documentary 1991 The French Impressionists Director Video documentary
References
External links
Fielding Graduate University page on Jean-Pierre Isbouts, DLitt Personal website of Jean-Pierre Isbouts