Xavier Mellery (9 August 1845,

Laken () or () is a residential suburb in the north-western part of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. It belongs to the municipality of the City of Brussels and is mostly identified by the Belgian postal code: 1020. Prior to 1921, it was a sep ...

– 4 February 1921,

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

) was a Belgian

Symbolist Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...

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 ...

. The son of a gardener at the

Royal Palace of Laeken The Palace of Laeken or Castle of Laeken (french: Château de Laeken, nl, Kasteel van Laken, german: Schloss zu Laeken) is the official residence of the King of the Belgians and the Belgian Royal Family. It lies in the Brussels-Capital Regio ...

, Mellery initially worked with the painter-decorator Charles Albert. He attended the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in

from 1860 to 1867, one of his professors being

Jean-François Portaels Jean-François Portaels or Jan Portaels (3 April 1818 – 8 February 1895) was a Belgian painter of genre scenes, biblical stories, landscapes, portraits and orientalist subjects. He was also a teacher and director of the Academy of Fine Arts ...

. Mellery won the Prix de Rome and traveled to

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 ...

where he studied paintings from the Renaissance. His works include ''The Rondo of the Hours''.

Honours

1885: Knight in the

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

.Handelsblad (Het) 04-11-1885 Mellery designed the statues of all 48 historical professions in the

Petit Sablon The () or (Dutch) is a neighbourhood and hill in the historic upper town of Brussels, Belgium. At its heart are twin squares: the larger or ("Large Sablon") square in the north-west and the smaller or ("Small Sablon") square and garden i ...

garden in Brussels. File:0 Bruxelles - Petit Sablon - Couvreur en tuiles.JPG, The Tiler File:0 Bruxelles - Petit Sablon - Horloger-Serrurier.JPG, The Clockmaker-Locksmith File:0 Bruxelles - Petit Sablon - Etainier-Plombier.JPG, The Tinsmith-Plumber

References

External links

Links to his paintings
available on-line
Artcyclopedia
1845 births 1921 deaths Belgian Symbolist painters Prix de Rome (Belgium) winners 19th-century Belgian painters 19th-century Belgian male artists 20th-century Belgian painters Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts alumni 20th-century Belgian male artists {{Belgium-painter-stub