Alphonse de Cailleux, in full Alexandre Achille Alphonse de Cailleux but numerous variations exist (31 December 1788 – 24 May 1876) was a painter, connoisseur and arts administrator who became director of the Musée du Louvre and all the royal museums of France. Under the

Bourbon Restoration Bourbon Restoration may refer to: France under the House of Bourbon: * Bourbon Restoration in France (1814, after the French revolution and Napoleonic era, until 1830; interrupted by the Hundred Days in 1815) Spain under the Spanish Bourbons: * ...

. he was attached to the reconstituted royal household (''

maison du roi The Maison du Roi (, "King's Household") was the royal household of the King of France. It comprised the military, domestic, and religious entourage of the French royal family during the Ancien Régime and Bourbon Restoration. Organisation ...

'').

Bibliography

Early life

Cailleux was born on 31 December 1788 in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

( Normandie,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Employment

As ''secrétaire général des Musées royaux'', he shared a carriage with Charles Nodier,

Jean Alaux Jean Alaux, called "''le Romain''" ("the Roman"), (1786 – 2 March 1864) was a French history painter and Director of the French Academy in Rome from 1846 to 1852.

and

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

at the coronation of Charles X in 1825. In 1836, he was appointed ''directeur adjoint'' at the Louvre, where he assisted the increasingly debilitated

Louis Nicolas Philippe Auguste de Forbin Louis Nicolas Philippe Auguste, comte de Forbin (La Roque-d'Anthéron, Bouches-du-Rhône, 19 August 1779 – Paris, 23 February 1841) was the French painter and antiquary who succeeded Vivant Denon as curator of the Musée du Louvre and the other ...

. Upon Forbin's death he was appointed ''directeur général des beaux-arts'', a precursor of the position of Minister of Fine Arts. In 1845, he was elected a ''membre libre'' (not being an artist himself) of the Académie des Beaux-Arts of the

Institut de France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute m ...

. As revolt erupted and Louis Philippe abdicated in February 1848, Cailleux, a confirmed royalist, resigned his posts.

Death

On 24 May 1876, Cailleux died in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

(

Île-de-France , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +01:00 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +02:00 , blank_name_sec1 = Gross regional product , blank_info_sec1 = Ranked 1st , bla ...

Awards

He was a

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

, but was promoted to Officer by decree on 17 May 1826.Alt URL
/ref> His portrait, attributed to

Georges Rouget Georges Rouget (26 August 1783 – 9 April 1869) was a neoclassical French painter. Life After studying in the École des Beaux-Arts, Rouget entered David's studio in 1797 and rapidly became his favorite student. Rouget began his professional ...

, is at the

Musée de Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

.Alt URL
/ref>

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cailleux, Achille de French art critics Directors of the Louvre Artists from Rouen 1788 births 1876 deaths Knights of the Legion of Honour Members of the Académie des beaux-arts French male non-fiction writers