
François Lemoyne or François Le Moine (; 1688 – 4 June 1737) was a French
rococo
Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...
painter. He was a winner of the
Prix de Rome
The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...
, professor of the
Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture
The Académie royale de peinture et de 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 abolished in 1793 during the French Revolution. I ...
, and ''
Premier peintre du Roi'' to
Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...
. He was tutor to
Charles-Joseph Natoire
Charles-Joseph Natoire (3 March 1700 – 23 August 1777) was a French painter in the Rococo manner, a pupil of François Lemoyne and director of the French Academy in Rome, 1751–1775. Considered during his lifetime the equal of François Bou ...
and
François Boucher
François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...
.
Throughout his career, Lemoyne sought to be seen as the heir to
Charles Le Brun
Charles Le Brun (; baptised 24 February 1619 – 12 February 1690) was a French Painting, painter, Physiognomy, physiognomist, Aesthetics, art theorist, and a director of several art schools of his time. He served as a court painter to Louis XIV, ...
and the leading painter of his generation, titles also vied for by his rival
Jean-François de Troy (1679–1752).
Lemoyne's work and talent, notably plied in
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
, earned him the esteem of his contemporaries and the name of the "new
Le Brun". He collaborated with or worked alongside other artists of the era, including
Donat Nonnotte,
Gilles Dutilleul,
Charles de La Fosse
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning wa ...
, and
Coypel. He killed himself in 1737, at the height of his career. With his death, the fashion of large allegorical ceilings disappeared.
Biography
Lemoyne was born in Paris in 1688 and studied under
Louis Galloche until 1713. In 1711, Lemoyne won the Prix de Rome and travelled to Italy to continue his studies.
After his return to Paris, Lemoyne was accepted as a full member of the
Académie de peinture et de sculpture in 1718 and later elected as a professor in 1733.
In 1723, Lemoyne returned to Italy for a second trip.
In 1727, the
duc d'Antin (Louis-Antoine de Pardaillan de Grondin), serving as the director of the
Bâtiments du Roi The Bâtiments du Roi (, 'King's Buildings') was a division of the Maison du Roi ('King's Household') in France under the Ancien Régime. It was responsible for building works at the King's residences in and around Paris.
History
The Bâtiments ...
, held an art competition in the hopes of reviving history painting among members of the Académie.
Only one Salon had been held since 1704 (in 1725), so this offered a rare opportunity for public exhibition of paintings.
Twelve paintings were submitted in all, by artists including
Charles-Antoine Coypel and
Noel-Nicholas Coypel.
Opinion was widely divided, with critical opinion favoring the paintings by the two Coypels, but in the end the first place prize of 5,000 ''livres'' was jointly awarded to Lemoyne and de Troy, a compromise which frustrated them both.
In 1728, Lemoyne was awarded a royal commission to paint the ceiling of the
Salon d’Hercule
The Salon d'Hercule (; also known as the Hercules Salon or the Hercules Drawing Room) is on the first floor of the Château de Versailles and connects the Royal Chapel of Versailles, Royal Chapel in the North Wing of the château with the ''grand ...
at
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
, which he worked on from 1733 to 1736.
He had seen similar paintings in Italy (such as
Pietro da Cortona
Pietro da Cortona (; 1 November 1596 or 159716 May 1669) was an Italian Baroque painter and architect. Along with his contemporaries and rivals Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini, he was one of the key figures in the emergence of Roman ...
’s in the
Palazzo Barberini
The Palazzo Barberini () is a 17th-century palace in Rome, facing the Piazza Barberini in Rione Trevi. Today, it houses the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, the main national collection of older paintings in Rome.
History
Around 1549 Cardinal ...
), and sought to prove that the French could excel at ''à ciel ouvert'' as much as the Italians.
When the work was complete, he received "unanimous praise," including accolades from
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
and
Cardinal Fleury.
His career was at its peak in 1736, when he was appointed ''Premier peintre du Roi''.
The following year, 1737, Lemoyne committed suicide in Paris. The reasons for this are not known, though excess of work, court intrigue at Versailles, the death of his wife, temperamental instability,
and frustration at his inability to attain artistic perfection
have been submitted. He chose death by sword, stabbing himself a total of nine times in the chest and throat. This was six months after finishing the ceiling painting "
L'apothéose d'Hercule" in the
Salon d'Hercule in the
grand appartement du roi
The ''grand appartement du roi'' is the King's grand apartment of the Palace of Versailles.
As a result of Louis Le Vau's envelope of Louis XIII’s château, constructed as part of Louis XIV's History of the Palace of Versailles#Second build ...
, and the day after completing the painting ''Time Saving Truth from Falsehood and Envy'' for his friend and patron François Berger.
Lemoyne has been characterized by David Wakefield as "industrious, painstaking and serious."
Style
Lemoyne's early studies in Rome instilled in him knowledge of the works of the Old Masters, Raphael, Correggio, and Titian, though his strongest influence was undoubtedly Rubens (particularly in his use of color).
During his second trip in 1723, Lemoyne admired the ceiling of the
Palazzo Barberini
The Palazzo Barberini () is a 17th-century palace in Rome, facing the Piazza Barberini in Rione Trevi. Today, it houses the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, the main national collection of older paintings in Rome.
History
Around 1549 Cardinal ...
and found inspiration in the works of the Venetians, particularly
Paolo Veronese
Paolo Caliari (152819 April 1588), known as Paolo Veronese ( , ; ), was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, known for extremely large history paintings of religion and mythology, such as ''The Wedding at Cana (Veronese), The Wedding ...
.
Over the course of his career, Lemoyne's style shifted more in favor of the Italian influence.
Pierre Rosenberg describes Lemoyne's style as "refined and introverted."
Philip Conisbee refers to Lemoyne's paintings as having a "sensuous beauty" similar to works by
Correggio
Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter who was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Renaissance, who was responsible for som ...
.
Works
* ''Ruth and Booz'' (1711), the painting he won the Prix de Rome with.
* ''St Jean dans le Désert'', in Nantes Cathedral.
* ''Hercules and Cacus'' (1718)
* ''Tancred Surrendering Arms to Clorinda'' (1722), commissioned by Berger.
*
''Perseus and Andromeda'' (1723), currently at the
Wallace Collection
The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse (Great Britain), townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquess of Hertford, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wall ...
, London.
* ''Hercules and Omphale'' (1724), currently in the Louvre, Paris.
* ''Continence of Scipio'' (1727), the painting he displayed at the 1727 competition.
*
Louis XV donnant la Paix à l'Europe',
Salon de la Paix in
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
(1727)
* ''The Annunciation'' (1727), at
Winchester College
Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...
, previously on loan to the
National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...
* ''
Narcissus'' (1728)
* ''Venus and Adonis'' (1729)
* Ceiling of the
Salon d'Hercule in Versailles (1736)
* Arch of the
Church of Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin in Paris
* ''
Diane chasseresse''
* ''
Les Nymphes''
* He also worked at
Saint-Sulpice and at the
Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés
* ''Time Saving Truth from Falsehood and Envy'' (1737), currently at the Wallace Collection, London.
References
Bibliography
* Cours sur la peinture du XVIII
e, 2006,
Université Nancy 2
* Xavier Salmon : ''François Lemoyne à Versailles'', Gourcuff, Paris 2001,
* Jean-Luc Bordeaux, Francois Le Moyne ( 1688–1737) and His Generations, published in 1984-1985 jointly by the Getty Trust and the Louvre Arthena. ( reviewed by the late
Philip Conisbee in the Burlington Magazine in 1985.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemoyne, Francois
18th-century French painters
French male painters
1688 births
1737 deaths
Artists who died by suicide
Prix de Rome for painting
Premiers peintres du Roi
18th-century French male artists