Piat Joseph Sauvage or Pieter Joseph Sauvage (19 January 1744 in

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...

– 11 June 1818 in Tournai) was a

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, sculptor, printmaker and academic lecturer from the Southern Netherlands. He was known for his decorative paintings of interiors, grisailles and miniatures using trompe l'oeil effects as well as his small-scale portrait carvings.Pieter Joseph Sauvage
at the Netherlands Institute for Art History He often used precious materials such as marble, porcelain and ivory as the support for his paintings. He was a court painter to the governor of the Southern Netherlands, the Prince de Condé and the French king Louis XVI and a member of the

Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture The Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (; en, "Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture") was founded in 1648 in Paris, France. It was the premier art institution of France during the latter part of the Ancien Régime until it was abol ...

.Serge le Bailly de Tilleghem, ''Sauvage, Piat-Joseph''
Dictionnaire des peintres belges

Life

Sauvage was born in Tournai as the son of Antoine, a glass cutter. He worked in his father's factory until the age of 17, while completing his study at the school of drawing in Tournai. He went on to improve his artistic education at the Antwerp Academy under the direction of

Martin Joseph Geeraerts Marten Jozef Geeraerts (1707–1791) was a Flemish historical painter. Born at Antwerp, he was intended for the law, and studied in the Jesuits' College. Preferring art, however, he became a pupil of Abraham Godijn, and was made free of the Guild o ...

, an expert in grisaille and history paintings. He worked for a time in Brussels in the service of the governor general of the Southern Netherlands. He then left for France where he joined the Académie de Saint-Luc in Paris. In 1774 he made nine paintings including grisaille bas-reliefs representing ''The Death of Germanicus''. Piat Joseph Sauvage (1744-1818) - Infant Bacchanal - 108909 - National Trust

Piat Joseph Sauvage (1744-1818) - Infant Bacchanal - 108909 - National Trust

Sauvage was accepted into the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture after he produced a trompe l'oeil painting of a round table with an embroidered cloth on which are placed a

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

of a child, a helmet, books, a violin, and other items. This

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags ...

is at the Palace of Fontainebleau which also has other over the door decorative works by Sauvage. As his fame grew, he was appointed the court painter of the Prince de Condé, and later of the French king Louis XVI and the Royal Family. During this period, he painted Marie-Antoinette and produced paintings for the chapel of Saint-Cloud. His appointment as royal artist did not keep him from joining the popular side of the French Revolution. His painting surprisingly did not slow down during this period of political upheaval. From 1804 to 1807, he painted porcelain figurines for the famous Sèvres porcelain factory. In 1808 he returned to

to become the director of the local Academy of Drawing. During his tenure, artists such as Antoine Payen studied there. He also painted the ''

Seven Sacraments There are seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, which according to Catholic theology were instituted by Jesus and entrusted to the Church. Sacraments are visible rites seen as signs and efficacious channels of the grace of God to all those ...

'' in the choir of Tournai cathedral which replaced tapestries stolen by the French during the French occupation of the Southern Netherlands.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sauvage, Piat Painters from the Austrian Netherlands 1744 births 1818 deaths Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp) alumni Trompe-l'œil artists Court painters Members of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture