Charles-Michel-Ange Challe (born in Paris on 13 February 1718; died 8 January 1778) was a painter, draftsman and French architect. Having studied with Boucher and Le Moyne, he was one of the most appreciated painters of his time and enjoyed a huge success across Europe. His architectural drawings in the style of

Piranesi Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (; also known as simply Piranesi; 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an Italian Classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric ...

contributed to his appointment in 1764 as Draftsman of the Chamber and the Cabinet of the King, charge for which he would produce many ephemeral architectures for parties and great royal funerals. He played a pivotal role in the transition between rococo and classical styles and was one of the essential contributors to the creation of aesthetics known as the Louis XVI style .

The first years (1718 - 1742)

Charles-Michel-Ange Challe was born in Paris to a modest family from 18 March 1718. He first studied architecture with the Dominican friar Brother André before joining the workshop of

François Lemoyne François Lemoyne or François Le Moine (; 1688 – 4 June 1737) was a French rococo painter. He was a winner of the Prix de Rome, professor of the Académie de peinture et de sculpture, and ''Premier peintre du Roi'' to Louis XV. He was tutor ...

, then at the height of his glory. After the latter's suicide in 1731, he became a pupil of

François Boucher François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...

, whose friend he became and whose technique would have a lasting influence on him. In 1738, he first runs for the

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 ...

and came second. He will be a candidate again in 1740 and 1741, the year he receives the Grand Prize for his ''Tobit Healing''. Among the members of the jury are

Nicolas de Largillière Nicolas de Largillière (; 10 October 1656 – 20 March 1746) was a French portrait painter, born in Paris. Biography Early life Largillière's father, a merchant, took him to Antwerp at the age of three. As a boy, he spent nearly two years in ...

and Charles van Loo. His brother, Simon, won the second prize in sculpture the same year.

The Roman years (1742 - 1749)

He arrived in Rome on 3 November 1742, as a resident at the

French Academy in Rome The French Academy in Rome (french: Académie de France à Rome) is an Academy located in the Villa Medici, within the Villa Borghese, on the Pincio (Pincian Hill) in Rome, Italy. History The Academy was founded at the Palazzo Capranica in 1 ...

. Under the direction of Jean-Francois de Troy, he made copies of Raphael Stanze in the Vatican to send them to the Gobelins as cartons for tapestries. Challe copied in particular ''The Encounter between Leo I the Great and Attila''. He took advantage of his stay to travel in Italy, from which he brought back a number of architectural drawings and landscapes. In Campania, he visits Herculaneum and ventured into the crater of Vesuvius, then active, which he will report in a scientific treatise. As part of the Academy of Rome, he also plays a leading role in the development of festive decorations, or farandoles, in the context of the carnival of 1748 and is brought to collaborate with the architects

Louis-Joseph Le Lorrain Louis-Joseph Le Lorrain (Paris, 1715- 1760) was a French painter and engraver. He studied design and engraving with Jacques Dumont. He then moved to Rome, becoming known in artistic circles before returning to Paris to join the Academy. He spe ...

, Ennemond- Alexandre Petitot and

Charles-Louis Clérisseau Charles-Louis Clérisseau (28 August 1721 – 9 January 1820) was a French architect, draughtsman, antiquary, and artist who became a leading authority on ancient Roman architecture and Roman ruins in Italy and France. With his influence extending t ...

who will reinforce his neoclassical way. The success of these initiatives will play a significant role in his appointment as head of Menus Plaisirs a few years later. He remains in Rome for seven years while the normal length of a stay was not supposed to exceed three years. But it is especially by his drawings of monuments in the style of

that this period will mark the work of Challe. The influence of the great draftsman on the Académie de France, near the studio where his works were engraved, is well known. Throughout his career, Challe will produce a large number of high quality drawings in the style of Piranesi and will work on the French translation of his theoretical works. He designs temples, triumphal arches, monumental sculptural groups, and bridges for which he uses a number of monumental motifs: columns, funerary urns, obelisks.

The Great Years (1749 - 1764)

Back in Paris in 1749, he enjoys a huge success and becomes one of the most prominent painters. In 1752, he is an accredited member of the Royal Academy of Painting and becomes a member two years later. In 1758, he is appointed professor of perspective to replace Sébastien Leclerc. His reception piece at the Academy, ''The Union of Painting and Sculpture Arts by Drawing'', ornates the ceiling of the meeting room. A prolific painter, he produced many pieces, showing the influence of

and Nicolas de Troy (''Les Charmes multipliés'', ''The Crowned Shepard''), which enjoyed considerable success in France but also in Prussia, in all German states, England and Russia. Many European courts invited him without success. The best of his works were engraved (''Jupiter and Leda'', engraved in 1761 by Jean-Baptiste Tillard). He exhibited at the Salon of 1753 and will continue to participate in the following years, alongside

Jean Siméon Chardin Jean Siméon Chardin (; November 2, 1699 – December 6, 1779) was an 18th-century French painter. He is considered a master of still life, and is also noted for his genre paintings which depict kitchen maids, children, and domestic act ...

, Etienne Jeaurat,

Jean-Marc Nattier Jean-Marc Nattier (17 March 1685 – 7 November 1766) was a French painter. He was born in Paris, the second son of Marc Nattier (1642–1705), a portrait painter, and of Marie Courtois (1655–1703), a miniaturist. He is noted for h ...

, Jean Restout, Louis Tocque, Louis-Michel and Charles van Loo. He displayed religious paintings (''Saint Sebastien'', ''Last Judgment'', ''Ascension''), history paintings (''Lucretia and Brutus'', ''Death of Cleopatra'') and portraits (''Mignot, sculptor of the king''.) But his work for the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

will earn him in 1763 violent criticism of Diderot after some praise on his ''Socrates on the Verge of Drinking Hemlock'' in 1761:

"It looks like being painted a hundred years ago; but it is much older for the way than for the color. It looks like it's a copy after some ancient bas-relief. There reigns a simplicity, a tranquility, especially in the main figure, which is hardly of our time."

His ''Sleeping Venus'' is very much appreciated especially at the court:

"It is about this painting that
Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...
asked a lady of his court, famous for her taste in the arts, what she thought of the Salon, she replied that she remembered only the ''Venus'' from Challe."

In 1765, he presented a monumental painting: ''Hector Entering the Palace of Pâris'' which earned him unanimous negative reviews and dissuaded him from exhibiting the following years. Nevertheless, he continued to be very much in demand and became one of the most expensive painters of his time. He decorated many churches (Oratoire du Louvre, Convent of Feuillants, Saint-Hippolyte and Saint-Roch in Paris) and mansions (hotels of Palatine of Lithuania, of Soyecourt, of Malta, of Duke of Praslin, of Duke of Aiguillon.)

Draftsman of the King's Chamber and Cabinet (1764 - 1778)

After the death of the sculptor and ornamanist René Michel Slodz in 1764, he was appointed, by a royal decree of 23 February 1765, Draftsman of the Chamber and Cabinet of the King, a position he obtained thanks to the support of the Duke d'Aumont in competition with other brilliant candidates (de Wailly, Bocquet, Géraud.) This charge is then important to the court:

"Machinist, composer of theater clothes and ballet costumes, organizer of funerals, artificer, scenery painter, in a word, man of common taste and easy elegance, such was the draftsman of the cabinet of His Majesty."

He will be particularly famous in the early years for the ephemeral architectures he creates for the great funerals at a time when the taste is in transition to neoclassicism "the greak way". Thus he conceives the monuments of the infant Philippe de Bourbon, Duke of Parma, of Louis-Ferdinand, Dauphin of France, of Stanislas Leszczynski, King of Poland, of

Elisabeth Farnese Elisabeth Farnese (Italian: ''Elisabetta Farnese'', Spanish: ''Isabel Farnesio''; 25 October 169211 July 1766) was Queen of Spain by marriage to King Philip V. She exerted great influence over Spain's foreign policy and was the ''de facto'' rule ...

, Queen of Spain, of the Dauphine Maria Josepha of Saxony, of the

Queen of France This is a list of the women who were queens or empresses as wives of French monarchs from the 843 Treaty of Verdun, which gave rise to West Francia, until 1870, when the Third Republic was declared. Living wives of reigning monarchs technica ...

, of Charles-Emmanuel III of Savoy and finally of King

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

himself. The label of the moment wants indeed that great funeral

"Corroborate the elaboration of a rhetoric that attempts to compose a kind of figurative eulogy that also obeys a precise geography"

They constitute a graphic counterpart to the funeral oration. The king's draftsman also creates sets for other royal ceremonies: entrances, weddings, law courts, parties and entertainment. In 1770, he creates the ephemeral decoration of the marriage of the Dauphin, future

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

and

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

at Versailles and the Orangery with the assistance of Moreau the Younger who will succeed him:

"This palace of the Sun, raised at one end of the canal, whose waters reflected torrents of light will remembered for a long time. These groves and beds of fire, basins where the two elements seemed to be confused, the variety of amusements and shows distributed throughout the park to share the crowd."

He is the first to engrave his drawings, which allows us to rediscover today this less known part of French art of the seventeenth century, all the achievements of Menus Plaisirs having been dismantled after being used.

The last years

In November 1770, an aging Challe was named knight of the order of Saint Michel and ennobled. He is filled with honors and received at the Academy of Sciences and Fine Arts of Lyon. In 1762 he married Madeline-Sophie Nattier, the youngest daughter of

with whom he had no children. In the last years of his life, he worked on a project to expand the city of Marseille which was first approved by

Turgot Turgot may refer to: * Turgot of Durham ( – 1115), Prior of Durham and Bishop of St Andrews * Michel-Étienne Turgot (1690–1751), mayor of Paris * Anne Robert Jacques Turgot (1727–1781), French economist and statesman * Louis Félix Étienn ...

, Minister of the Navy, before being abandoned. His declining health did not allow him to participate actively in the decor of the coronation of

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

in June 1775, which will be directed by his assistant Moreau le Jeune . He died on 8 January 1778 from a violent fever, at the age of 59 years. Beyond his painted and engraved work, he leaves many books, plays in verse, dramatic works, travel stories and translations of

, not to mention his scientific essay on Vesuvius but none has been published under his name and it is difficult to trace his aliases.

Works

File:Challe - Le Christ et le centurion.JPG, Christ and the Centurion, 1758, Saint-Roch Church, Paris File:Jupiter et Léda.jpg, Jupiter and Leda, private collection, New York File:Emmausx373736.jpg, Le Repas d'Emmaüs, 1754–59, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec File:Charles Michel-Ange Challe - View of Church Interior - Google Art Project.jpg, Church Interior, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York File:Architectural Fantasy MET DT9549.jpg, Architectural Fantasy, Metropolitan Museum, New York File:An Architectural Capriccio; a View Through a Great Arch with an Obelisk in a Piazza in the Middle Distance MET DP809675.jpg, Architectural Capriccio, Metropolitan Museum, New York File:BDrawing, Architectural Fantasy- Buildings, Monuments and Stairways, 1718–78 (CH 18326647).jpg, Architectural Fantasy, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York

Paintings

* ''Guérison de Tobie'', 1741,

École des beaux-arts de Paris The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French ''grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Sciences ...

* ''Vénus et Amour'', 1752, 98 x 150 cm,

musée du 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 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 ...

. * ''Danaé'', 1752, 97 x 152 cm,

, Paris * ''Jupiter et Léda'', collection particulière, New York * Le Repas d'Emmaüs, 1754 - 1759, 117 x 126 cm
Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
* La Résurrection, 1754 - 1758, 253 x 364 cm
Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
* ''Le Christ et le centurion '', 1758, église Saint-Roch, Paris * ''Le Génie qui unit la Peinture et la Sculpture'', 1753,

château de Fontainebleau Palace of Fontainebleau (; ) or Château de Fontainebleau, located southeast of the center of Paris, in the commune of Fontainebleau, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The medieval castle and subsequent palace served as a residence f ...

* ''La Religion invitant à ses saints mystères'', église Saint-Médard, Paris * ''La Mort de Didon'', décoration du plafond de l'académie * ''La Mort d'hercule'', Salon de 1763 * ''Le Mariage de la Vierge'', église Saint-Bruno,

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

. * ''Louis XV glorifié par la Peinture et la Sculpture'', plafond du petit salon Louis XV,

* ''Vue de l'intérieur du Colisée'', dessin préparatoire,

Musée Magnin The Musée Magnin is a national museum in the French city of Dijon in Burgundy, in the Côte-d'Or department, with a collection of around 2,000 works of art collected by Maurice Magnin and his sister Jeanne and bequeathed to the state in 1938 along ...

, Dijon * ''Vue des souterrains du Colisée'', dessin préparatoire,

, Dijon

Engravings from Challe

* ''Jupiter and Leda'', engraved by Jean-Baptiste Tilliard, Teyler Museum,

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

* ''Cleopatra's Death'', 1770-1778, engraved by Jean-Baptiste Michel, Portugal National Library,

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

Notes and references

Bibliography

* '' Dictionnaire Bénézit'' * Richard P. Wunder, « Charles Michel Ange Challe, A Study of his Life and Work », in Apollo, janvier 1968 * Marie-Catherine Sahut, « Deux tableaux de Charles-Michel-Ange Challe destinés aux salles du mobilier du XVIIe siècle », in ''Bulletin de la Société des Amis du Louvre'', décembre 2013. * Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, K.G. Saur , München / Leipzig, K.G. Saur Verlag, 1992. * Journal de Paris, numéro 154, 3 juin 1778. {{DEFAULTSORT:Challe, Charles Michel Ange 18th-century French painters French male painters 18th-century French architects 18th-century French male artists