François Puget (17 December 1651,

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

- 6 October 1707,

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

) was a French painter in the Baroque style; known primarily for his portraits.

Biography

His father was the architect, sculptor and painter,

Pierre Puget Pierre Paul Puget (16 October 1620 – 2 December 1694) was a French Baroque painter, sculptor, architect and engineer. His sculpture expressed emotion, pathos and drama, setting it apart from the more classical and academic sculpture of the ...

. After a scandal involving the Finance Minister

Nicolas Fouquet Nicolas Fouquet, marquis de Belle-Île, vicomte de Melun et Vaux (27 January 1615 – 23 March 1680) was the Superintendent of Finances in France from 1653 until 1661 under King Louis XIV. He had a glittering career, and acquired enormous wealth ...

, in 1661, his father decided to stay in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

, where he had been working. Two years later, he and his mother Paule followed, and that is where he grew up. The author, Joseph Bougerel (1680-1753), believed that he was briefly a student of

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (baptized 23 March 16095 May 1664) was an Italian Baroque painter, printmaker and draftsman, of the Genoese school. He is best known now for his etchings, and as the inventor of the printmaking technique of monoty ...

, but this has been recently questioned by Marie-Christine Gloton of the Académie Française.Marie-Christine Gloton, ''Pierre & François Puget: Peintres baroques'', Édisud, 1985 In 1668, the family returned to Toulon and his father became the manager of the sculpture workshop at the Arsenal. He married Jeanne Jourdanis in 1677 and they had three children together. In 1679, it appears that he followed his father to Marseille, as in 1680 he is known to have created a painting for the convent of the

Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary , image = Salesas-escut.gif , size = 175px , abbreviation = V.S.M. , nickname = Visitandines , motto = , formation = , founder = Saint Bishop Francis de ...

, depicting that event. At the same time, he painted his "Portrait of a Seated Man". Both works are now at the

Musée des beaux-arts de Marseille The Musée des beaux-arts de Marseille is one of the main museums in the city of Marseille, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It occupies a wing of the Palais Longchamp, and displays a collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings fro ...

. He then decided to stay there to assist his aging father. Between 1683 and 1688, he visited Paris three times to present his father's works to King

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 Ver ...

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, ...

. He became a widower in 1691, but soon remarried; to Geneviève Mazerat, the daughter of a former (a type of

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

) and a relative of his father's second wife. That same year he became "Peintre Ordinaire du Roi". He seems also to have become the official artist for the city of Marseille, as he created portraits of numerous city office holders from 1697 to 1706. He also had some talents as an architect. After his father's death in 1694, he assumed responsibility for completing the chapel of La Vieille Charité; especially the

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, fro ...

of the dome.Jean-Jacques Gloton, "Le problème de la chapelle", in:''La vieille charité de Marseille'', Arts et livres de Provence, bulletin N° 75, 1970 p.55 Other notable works include the "Meeting of Musicians", which was a gift to Louis XIV. It was long believed to be a portrayal of Jean-Baptiste Lully and

Philippe Quinault Philippe Quinault (; 3 June 1635 – 26 November 1688), French dramatist and librettist, was born in Paris. Biography Quinault was educated by the liberality of François Tristan l'Hermite, the author of ''Marianne''. Quinault's first play w ...

, but the musicians pictured were actually friends of the Puget family. He also did at least one, and possibly two portraits of his father, c.1692. All of these are in the

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 ...

. Several works that were originally attributed to his father have since been identified as his.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puget, Francois 1651 births 1707 deaths French portrait painters French Baroque painters Artists from Toulon

Biography

References

Further reading

External links