François Cacault (1742,

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabit ...

– 10 October 1805, Clisson) was a French diplomat of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods.

Life

François's father was a master artist in

faience Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ad ...

, road engineer and designer of a 1775 map of Nantes which served as the basis for plans to embellish the town. François began his career by training at the Ecole militaire in Paris, where he was made professor of fortifications in 1764 and inspector of studies in 1766. He resigned in 1769 and, forced into exile following a duel, travelled around Europe and got to know its artistic and literary circles. In 1775 he became the secretary of marshal d'Aubeterre, governor of Brittany, following him to Italy in 1785. Also in 1785 he began his diplomatic career as secretary to Talleyrand, then ambassador to the court of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. In 1788 and 1791, he took on the duties of a chargé d'affaires but was recalled to France due to his meetings with anti-revolutionary

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self- exile. The word is the past participle of the French ''émigrer'', "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Huguenots fled France follow ...

s. In 1793, he was sent out as France's ambassador to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

but was forced by the riots of that year to sell all the lands and goods of French foundations in Rome, forcing the closure of the

Académie de France 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, ...

there and the repatriation of its French artists. However, also in 1793, he managed to detach

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

from the

First Coalition The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that suc ...

against France. In 1796 Cacault became French minister in Rome to oversee the implementation of the Armistice of Bologna. On 10 February 1797 he was the second French signatory of the

Treaty of Tolentino {{unreferenced, date=June 2018 The Treaty of Tolentino was a peace treaty between Revolutionary France and the Papal States, signed on 19 February 1797 and imposing terms of surrender on the Papal side. The signatories for France were the French Di ...

, at Bonaparte's side as French chargé d'affaires in Italy.Treaty of Tolentin
at the Vatican Archive site
On 27 germinal year VI (16 April 1798), he was elected as député for Loire-Inférieure to the

Council of Five Hundred The Council of Five Hundred (''Conseil des Cinq-Cents''), or simply the Five Hundred, was the lower house of the legislature of France under the Constitution of the Year III. It existed during the period commonly known (from the name of the ...

. After the

18 brumaire The Coup d'état of 18 Brumaire brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power as First Consul of France. In the view of most historians, it ended the French Revolution and led to the Coronation of Napoleon as Emperor. This bloodless ''coup d'état'' over ...

coup d'état, Cacault rallied to Napoleon and on 4 nivôse year VIII (25 December 1799) entered the

Corps législatif The was a part of the French legislature during the French Revolution and beyond. It is also the generic French term used to refer to any legislative body. History The Constitution of the Year I foresaw the need for a ''corps législatif''. ...

as député for Loire-Inférieure. He was then one of the negotiators for the

Concordat of 1801 The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801 in Paris. It remained in effect until 1905, except in Alsace-Lorraine, where it remains in force. It sought national reconciliation b ...

. From year IX (1802) to year XI (1804) he was minister plenipotentiary in Rome, before joining the

Sénat conservateur The (from French: "Conservative Senate") was an advisory body established in France during the Consulate following the French Revolution. It was established in 1799 under the Constitution of the Year VIII following the Napoleon Bonaparte-led ...

on 6 germinal year XII (27 March 1804). François Cacault (par Sablet)

A friend of letters and the arts, he translated many German works into French. During his stay in Italy he bought sculptures, more than a thousand paintings and over 5,000 prints, representative of Western European art from the end of the 13th century to the start of the 19th century. Conditions were highly favourable for this collection's formation, and Cacault was probably advised by the painter-collector Jean-Baptiste Wicar. They were both present in the art market, notably with the "brocanteur" or market-dealer Corazetto in

piazza Navona Piazza Navona () is a public open space in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in the 1st century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium. The ancient Romans went there to watch the '' agones' ...

and amidst works seized from churches and convents by the French occupiers and the suppression between 1798 and 1802 of a ban on exporting works of art from the Papal States. François's younger brother Pierre had stayed in

Clisson Clisson (; br, Klison), is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. It is situated at the confluence of the Sèvre Nantaise and the Moine southeast of Nantes. The town and the celebrated ...

since 1796, and there they founded a museum that aimed to display François's collection, to contribute to the spread of good taste and beauty and to favour arts studies. This "museum-school" arose from a passion for art and witnesses to the political context which affirmed the will to make all works of art accessible, within an ideal of artistic education. The Cacault collection was bought in 1801 by the town of Nantes, forming the foundation of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes.

External links and sources

The life of François Cacault

Biography
* History of the musée de peinture de Nante
on Googlebooks

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cacault, Francois 1742 births 1805 deaths Diplomats from Nantes Ambassadors of France to the Kingdom of Naples Ambassadors of France to the Holy See French art collectors Translators to French Translators from German Members of the Sénat conservateur Members of the Corps législatif Members of the Council of Five Hundred 18th-century French diplomats 19th-century French diplomats