Pierre Subleyras (; November 25, 1699 – May 28, 1749) was a French

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 ...

, active during the late-

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

and early- Neoclassic period, mainly in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Life

Subleyras was born in

Saint-Gilles-du-Gard Saint-Gilles (; Provençal: ''Sant Geli''; en, St. Giles) or Saint-Gilles-du-Gard is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. It is the second most populous commune in the Nîmes metropolitan area. History The abbey of Saint-Gilles ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He left France in 1728, having carried off the French Academy's grand prix, which provided scholarship for study 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 ...

. In Rome, he painted for the Elector of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, Frederick Christian, a "Christ's Visit to the House of Simon the Pharisee", (later engraved by Subleyras himself), this work procured his admission into the famed Roman artists guild,

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...

. Cardinal Valenti Gonzaga next obtained for him the order for ''Saint Basil & Emperor Valens'' (also known as the ''Mass of St. Basil'', which was executed in

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

for St Peter's. Another masterpiece is his painting of ''St

Camillo De Lellis Camillo De Lellis (born 11 June 1976) is an Italian mathematician who is active in the fields of calculus of variations, hyperbolic systems of conservation laws, geometric measure theory and fluid dynamics. He is a permanent faculty member in ...

coming to the rescue of the diseased at the hospital of the Holy Spirit''. He was a remarkably incisive portraitist, as evident from the portrait of Pope Benedict XIV or of the obese Cardinal Valenti Gonzaga. The pope himself commanded two great paintings, the "Marriage of St Catherine" and the "Ecstasy of St Camilla", which he placed in his own private apartments. Another portrait was of the cleric and artist

Giovanni Felice Ramelli Giovanni Felice Ramelli (1666–1740) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Rome. He also became an abbot of the Augustinian order of Canons Regular of the Lateran. Biography He was born in Asti in the Piedmont. He bec ...

, which Ramelli then replicated in miniature. Subleyras shows greater individuality in his curious genre pictures, which he produced in considerable number (Louvre). In his illustrations of La Fontaine and Boccaccio his true relation to the modern era comes out; and his drawings from nature are often admirable (see one of a man draped in a heavy cloak in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

). Exhausted by overwork, Subleyras tried a change to Naples, but returned to Rome at the end of a few months to die. His wife, the celebrated miniature painter,

Maria Felice Tibaldi Maria Felice Tibaldi (1707–1770) was an Italian painter. She was born in Rome. Life She painted portraits and historical subjects in oil and pastel, including portrait miniatures, among them, ''Bacchus and Ariadne'' and ''Angelica and Medoro'' ...

, was sister to

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpora ...

, the wife of Trémolières.

Partial catalogue and gallery

Paintings at the Louvre

* Don Cesare Benvenuti * L'Absolution de Théodose * Le Gaucon * L'Ermite ou Frère Luce * Les Oies du frère Philippe * Portrait présumé de Jacques-Antoine de Lironcourt * Saint Benoît ressuscite un enfant * Saint Jean d'Avila File:Benoit XIV.jpg, ''

Pope Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV ( la, Benedictus XIV; it, Benedetto XIV; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758.Antipope ...

'' File:Subleyras la courtisane amoureuse louvre.jpg, ''Courtesan in love'' File:Collection Motais de Narbonne - L'Annonciation en présence d'ammantate c.1726 - Pierre Subleyras.jpg, ''The

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

in the Presence of Ammantate'' (1726) File:Pierre Subleyras - The Studio of the Painter - WGA21963.jpg, ''The Artist's Studio'' File:Justice by Pierre Subleyras.jpg, ''Justice'' File:Pierre Subleyras - Crucifixion of S. Peter.jpg, ''Crucifixion of

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

'' File:Pierre Subleyras - Mass of St Basil - WGA21955.jpg, ''Mass of Saint Basil'' (1743)

References

;Attribution

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Subleyras, Pierre 1699 births 1749 deaths 18th-century French painters French male painters French neoclassical painters Painters from Rome Catholic painters 18th-century French male artists