Charles de La Fosse (or Lafosse; 15 June 1636 – 13 December 1716) was a French painter born 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 ...

Life

He was one of the most noted and least servile pupils of Le Brun, under whose direction he shared in the chief of the great decorative works undertaken in the reign of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

. Leaving France in 1662, he spent two years in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and three in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. The influence of his prolonged studies of Veronese is evident in his ''Finding of Moses'' (

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

), and in his ''Rape of Proserpine'' (Louvre), which he presented to the Royal Academy as his diploma picture in 1673. He was at once named assistant professor, and in 1674 the full responsibilities of the office devolved on him, but his engagements did not prevent his accepting in 1689 the invitation of Lord Montagu to decorate Montagu House, situated in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

Charles de La Fosse - Bacchus and Ariadne - WGA12305

He visited

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

twice, remaining on the second occasion—together with Jacques Rousseau and

Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer (12 January 1636 – 20 February 1699) was a Franco-Flemish painter who specialised in flower pieces. He was attached to the Gobelins tapestry workshops and the Beauvais tapestry workshops, too, where he produced cartoons ...

more than two years. William III vainly strove to detain him in England by the proposal that he should decorate

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chief ...

, for Le Brun was dead, and Jules Mansart pressed La Fosse to return to Paris to take in hand the cupola of

Les Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides ( en, "house of invalids"), commonly called Les Invalides (), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as ...

. The decorations of Montagu House are destroyed, those of

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 ...

are restored, and the dome of the Invalides (engraved by Picart and

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

) is now the only work existing which gives a full measure of his talent. During his latter years La Fosse executed many other important decorations in public buildings and private houses, notably in that of

Pierre Crozat Pierre Crozat (1665–1740) was a French financier, art patron and collector at the center of a broad circle of ''cognoscenti''; he was the brother of Antoine Crozat. Biography The brothers Crozat were born in Toulouse, France, the sons of a we ...

, under whose roof he died on 13 December 1716. The artist's works and conception played a key role in the French art history from shifting the classicism of the French style from the court of

towards the lighter and more playful Rococo period's style. La Fosse's style prior to his emergence from the shadow of Le Brun remains a mystery, with very few sheets by him dating earlier than 1680.Margaret Morgan Grasselli, ''Renaissance to Revolution, French Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, 1500-1800''. National Gallery of Art, Washington

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:La Fosse, Charles De 1636 births 1716 deaths 17th-century French painters French male painters 18th-century French painters Painters from Paris 18th-century French male artists

Life

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