Nicolas-Guy Brenet (1 July 1728 — 21 February 1792) was a French history painter. Brenet was born and 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 ...

. He studied in the atelier 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 ...

, but abandoned his master's

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, ...

manner in the 1760s, to paint in a conscious revival of the academic classicism of

Nicolas 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 ...

.The monograph is Marc Sandoz, ''Nicolas-Guy Brenet, 1728-1792'', Paris : Éditart-Quartre chemins, 1979. His cycle of religious paintings for

Montmerle Charterhouse Montmerle Charterhouse (french: Chartreuse Notre-Dame de Montmerle du Val-Saint-Étienne, la, Mons Merula) is a former charterhouse, or Carthusian monastery, located in Lescheroux, in the arrondissement of Bourg-en-Bresse and the canton of Saint-Tr ...

near Dijon lies securely in the mainstream of French religious painting. His enormous ''Battle of the Greeks and Trojans over the Body of Patroclus'' is an example of the new direction of

official art An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their su ...

in France. In his unusual and precocious choice of medieval subjects, as they were commissioned by the official

Bâtiments du roi The Bâtiments du Roi (, "King's Buildings") was a division of the Maison du Roi ("King's Household") in France under the Ancien Régime. It was responsible for building works at the King's residences in and around Paris. History The Bâtiments ...

, his work foreshadowed the ''style troubadour'' of the 19th century. His son, a

medallist A medalist (or medallist) is an artist who designs medals, plaquettes, badges, metal medallions, coins and similar small works in relief in metal. Historically, medalists were typically also involved in producing their designs, and were usually e ...

, was (1773–1846).

Notes

18th-century French painters French male painters 1728 births 1792 deaths French history painters 18th-century French male artists {{France-painter-18thC-stub