Charles Othon Frédéric Jean-Baptiste, Comte de Clarac (24 June 1777,

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 ...

– 20 January 1847,

) was a French artist, scholar and archaeologist. He published a catalogue of the Musée du Louvre, and a ''Manuel de l'Histoire de l'art'' and also that which is considered his best work: the ''Musée de sculpture antique et moderne'', 1826–1852, completed after his death. Having served for some time in the army of prince Conde, and afterward entered a Russian regiment. After that he returned to France, and then to Naples in 1808. During his stay there he superintended the excavations at Pompeii, the results of which he described in his book, ''Fouilles Faites a Pompei.'' He soon left Italy and followed the duke of

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

in his embassy to Brazil. On his return to Paris he was appointed successor to Visconti as keeper of the ''Musee des Antiques.''

Life

Emigrating on the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, he travelled round Europe, finding success in drawing and archaeology. He became tutor to the children of

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the ...

, king of Naples, and was charged by Murat with showing them round the ruins of

Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...

. He returned to France under the

Consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth coun ...

, and was made conservator of antiquities at the Louvre in 1818. In 1838 he was admitted to the

Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

as a free member. Highly talented at drawing, he accompanied the diplomatic mission of the

Duke of Luxemburg The Duchy of Luxemburg ( nl, Luxemburg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg; lb, Lëtzebuerg) was a Imperial state, state of the Holy Roman Empire, the ancestral homeland of the noble House of Luxembourg. The House of Luxembourg, now Duke o ...

, extraordinary ambassador to king

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

, to Brazil. On the shores of the Paraîbo do Sul, in the woods of Rio Bonito to the north of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, he made several signed ''

croquis Croquis drawing is quick and sketchy drawing of a live model. Croquis drawings are usually made in a few minutes, after which the model changes pose or leaves and another croquis is drawn. The word ''croquis'' comes from French and means simply ...

'', and once he was back in Europe worked them up into a large watercolour of the untouched and primitive forest interior of Brazil. The resulting work (also the result of minute study of tropical plants cultivated in the greenhouses of prince Maximilien zu Wied's château), ''Forêt vierge du Brésil'', was shown at 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 ...

of 1819. From its vegetal profusion emanates an organic luxuriance which several photographers later tried to emulate and reproduce. The famous naturalist

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, p ...

, who had in his "Essay on the Geography of Plants" demanded that artists go to the New World and paint the richness of its vegetation, bought the work due to "its organic sense of the detail emanating from the totality of nature". It was acquired by the Louvre's "département des Arts graphiques" in 2004, and in 2005 a special exhibition was centred on it.

Works

Besides a ''Catalogue du musée du Louvre'' and a ''Manuel de l'histoire de l'art'', 1847, 3 volumes in-12, he wrote ''Musée de sculpture antique et moderne'', 1826–1855, 6 volumes in-8, with plates in-4, a magnficient publication which used up his fortune and which he was unable to finish before his death.

Sources

*"Charles Othon Frédéric Jean-Baptiste de Clarac", in Marie-Nicolas Bouillet and Alexis Chassang (dir.), Dictionnaire universel d'histoire et de géographie, 1878
Forêt vierge du Brésil
- Louvre catalogue

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarac, Charles Othon Frederic Jean-Baptiste De 1777 births 1847 deaths French draughtsmen French archaeologists French curators French classical scholars French art historians French naturalists Botanical illustrators Counts of France Botanists active in South America Natural history of Brazil French male non-fiction writers