Jean-François Pierre Peyron (15 December 1744 – 20 January 1814) was a French Neoclassical painter, printmaker, and art collector.

Biography

Peyron was born on 15 December 1744 in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

in Southern France to a wealthy family. He studied law until the death of his father in 1765, at which point Peyron enrolled in the (Drawing School) in Aix. There he learned from the history painter and etcher Michel-François Dandré-Bardon. In 1767, Peyron moved to Paris at the age of twenty-three where he entered the

atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or v ...

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

painter

Louis Jean François Lagrenée Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

. He was one of the first to re-apply the Classic principles of composition, in the manner of

Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a ...

, while the prevailing fashion was in favour of

. In 1773, the '' Académie royale de peinture'' announced that the theme for the next ''

Grand Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

'' would be the death of

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

as described by

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...

, a favorite topic for French painters. Of the six artists approved to compete, first prize was awarded to Peyron for a now lost painting, but for which an engraving survives. He spent the years between 1775 and 1782 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 ...

, with the Academy of France in Rome. On his return to Paris, Peyron found that the career of his rival,

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...

, had taken its rise and had completely eclipsed his own, relegating it to a minor role in the history of art – which became evident in the exhibitions at the Salon of Paris between 1785 and 1787. Following his fall from grace, Peyron was appointed inspector general of the Gobelins tapestry factory from 1786 to 1792. David would later pay homage to Peyron at the time of his funeral, stating: "He had opened my eyes". Peyron died in Paris in 1814, aged 69.

List of works (partial)

* ''The Death of

'' (1773) – a now-lost painting that earned Peyron the Prix de Rome * ''Athéniennes'' or ''Young Athenians Drawing Lots to be Sacrificed to the Minotaur'' (1778) –

Wellington Museum Wellington Museum (formerly the Museum of City & Sea) is a museum on Queens Wharf in Wellington, New Zealand. It occupies the 1892 Bond Store, a historic building on Jervois Quay on the waterfront of Wellington Harbour. In 2013, it was voted ...

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 ...

* ''Belisarius Receiving Hospitality from a Peasant Who Had Served under Him'' (1779) – Musée de Augustins,

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

* ''Hagar and the Angel'' (1779) ''–'' private collection'','' Paris * Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi (1781) ''–''

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

'','' London * ''The Funeral of Miltiades'' (1782) –

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 ...

, Paris * ''The Resurrection of Christ'' (1784) – Church of Saint-Louis-en-l'Île, Paris * ''Socrate arrachant Alcibiade des bras de la Volupté'' (1785) – ,

Guéret Guéret (; Occitan: ''Garait'') is a commune and the prefecture of the Creuse department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in central France. Geography Guéret is a light industrial town, the largest in the department, with a big woodland and so ...

* ''The Death of

Alcestis Alcestis (; Ancient Greek: Ἄλκηστις, ') or Alceste, was a princess in Greek mythology, known for her love of her husband. Her life story was told by pseudo-Apollodorus in his '' Bibliotheca'', and a version of her death and return from ...

'' (1785) – The Louvre, Paris * ''The Death of

Socrates Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...

'' (1786 or 1787) –

National Gallery of Denmark The National Gallery of Denmark ( da, Statens Museum for Kunst, also known as "SMK", literally State Museum for Art) is the Danish national gallery, located in the centre of Copenhagen. The museum collects, registers, maintains, researches and han ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

* ''

Manius Curius Dentatus Manius Curius Dentatus (died 270 BC) was a Roman general and statesman noted for ending the Samnite War and for his military exploits during the Pyrrhic War. According to Pliny, he was born with teeth, thus earning the surname Dentatus, "toothed ...

Refusing the Samnite Ambassadors'' (1787) – Musée des Beaux-Arts,

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 Franc ...

* ''The Death of Socrates'' (1788) –

Joslyn Art Museum The Joslyn Art Museum is the principal fine arts museum in the state of Nebraska, United States. Located in Omaha, it was opened in 1931 at the initiative of Sarah H. Joslyn in memory of her husband, businessman George A. Joslyn. It is the only m ...

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

* ''Ulysse et Nausicaa'' (1791) –

Staatliches Museum Schwerin The Staatliches Museum Schwerin (State Museum Schwerin) is an art gallery and museum in Schwerin in Germany. It was established by Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1882 its historicist Haupthaus as the ''Staatsgalerie'' ...

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch dialect, Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germany, second-largest city of the northeastern States of Germany, German ...

* ''Time and Minerva'' (1799) – Ministère des Armées, Paris * ''King

Perseus of Macedon Perseus ( grc-gre, Περσεύς; 212 – 166 BC) was the last king ('' Basileus'') of the Antigonid dynasty, who ruled the successor state in Macedon created upon the death of Alexander the Great. He was the last Antigonid to rule Macedon, af ...

in front of

Aemilius Paulus Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus (c. 229 – 160 BC) was a two-time consul of the Roman Republic and a general who conquered Macedon, putting an end to the Antigonid dynasty in the Third Macedonian War. Family Paullus' father was Luciu ...

'' (1802) – Museum of Fine Arts,

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

* ''Paul-Émile, conqueror of Perseus, last king of the Macedonians'' (1804) – Exhibited at the Salon of 1804, then later deposited at the Museum of Fine Arts in

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. A painted sketch from 1802 can still be found in Budapest. * ''The Death of General Valhubert'' (1808) – Musée de l'Histoire de France,

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 19 ...

* ''Sainte Madeleine méditant –''

Musée Granet The Musée Granet is a museum in the quartier Mazarin, Aix-en-Provence, France devoted to painting, sculpture and archeology. In 2011, the museum received 177,598 visitors. History The museum, adjacent to the Church of Saint-Jean-de-Malte, first o ...

Gallery

File:The Death of Seneca (La mort de Sénèque) - Pierre Peyron.jpg, ''The Death of Seneca'' (1773 or 1774). Copper engraving of the now-lost original that won the Grand Prix. File:Jean-François-Pierre Peyron - Sainte Madeleine méditant.jpg, ''Sainte Madeleine méditant'' File:Belisarius by Peyron.jpg, ''Belisarius Receiving Hospitality from a Peasant Who Had Served under Him'' (1779) File:Jean-François-Pierre Peyron (1744-1814) - Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi - NG6552 - National Gallery.jpg, ''Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi'' (1781) File:Peyron I funerali di Milziade.jpg, ''The Funeral of Miltiades'' (1782) File:Pierre Peyron - Résurrection du Christ, 1784.jpg, ''La Résurrection'' (1784) File:Jean-François-Pierre Peyron - Alceste mourante - WGA17394.jpg, ''The Death of Alcestis'' (1785) File:Jean Francois Pierre Peyron - The Death of Socrates - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Death of Socrates'' (1786 or 1787) File:Peyron - Marcus Curius Dentatus refusant les présents des Samnites.jpg, ''Manius Curius Dentatus Refusing the Samnite Ambassadors'' (1787) File:Jean-François-Pierre Peyron 001.jpg, ''King Perseus of Macedon in front of Aemilius Paulus'' (1802) File:Général MORT DU GENERAL VALHUBERT.jpg, ''The Death of General Valhubert'' (1808)

References

Notes

Citations

External links

Insecula on Jean-François-Pierre Peyron

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peyron, Pierre 1744 births 1814 deaths People from Aix-en-Provence French neoclassical painters Prix de Rome for painting 18th-century French painters French male painters 19th-century French painters 19th-century French male artists