François Marius Granet (17 December 1775 – 21 November 1849) was a French

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

Biography

François Marius Granet was born on 17 December 1775 in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

; his father was a small builder. As a boy his strong desires led his parents to place him, after some preliminary teaching from a passing Italian artist, in a free school of art directed by M. Constantin, a landscape painter of some reputation. In 1793, Granet followed the volunteers of Aix to the

siege of Toulon The siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military engagement that took place during the Federalist revolts and the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. It was undertaken by forces of the French Re ...

, where he obtained employment as a decorator in the arsenal. Whilst a lad he had, at Aix, made the acquaintance of the young comte de Forbin, and upon his invitation Granet, in the year 1797, went to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. De Forbin was one of the pupils of

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

, and Granet entered the same studio. Later he got possession of a cell in the convent of Capuchins, which, having served for a manufactory of ''

assignat An assignat () was a monetary instrument, an order to pay, used during the time of the French Revolution, and the French Revolutionary Wars. France Assignats were paper money (fiat currency) authorized by the Constituent Assembly in France f ...

s'' during the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

, was afterwards inhabited almost exclusively by artists. In the changing lights and shadows of the corridors of the Capuchins, Granet found the materials for that one picture to the painting of which, with varying success, he devoted his life. In 1802, he left Paris for

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, where he remained until 1819, when he returned to Paris, bringing with him besides various other works one of fourteen repetitions of his celebrated "Chœur des Capucins," executed in 1811. The figures of the monks celebrating mass are taken in this subject as a substantive part of the architectural effect, and this is the case with all Granet's works, even with those in which the figure subject would seem to assert its importance, and its historical or romantic interest. "Stella painting a Madonna on his Prison Wall," 1810 ( Leuchtenberg collection); "Sodoma à l'hôpital," 1815 (Louvre); "Basilique basse de St François d'Assise," 1823 (Louvre); "Rachat de prisonniers," 1831 (Louvre); "Mort de Poussin," 1834 (Villa Demidoff, Florence), are among his principal works; all are marked by the same peculiarities, everything is sacrificed to tone. In 1819, Louis Philippe decorated Granet, and afterwards named him Chevalier de l'Ordre St Michel, and Conservateur des tableaux de Versailles (1826). He became a member of the institute in 1830; but in spite of these honours, and the ties which bound him to M. de Forbin, then director of the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

, Granet constantly returned to Rome. In 1821, he presented his painting 'Interior view of the choir in the Church of the Capuchin monastery in the Piazza Barberini in Rome' to

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (, ; – ), nicknamed "the Blessed", was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first king of Congress Poland from 1815, and the grand duke of Finland from 1809 to his death in 1825. He ruled Russian Empire, Russia during the chaotic perio ...

. In 1834, Granet was elected an honorary associate of the Imperial Academy of Arts. After 1848, he retired to Aix, immediately lost his wife, and died himself on 21 November 1849. He bequeathed the greater part of his fortune to his native town and all his collections (including the very fine portrait by

Ingres Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ( ; ; 29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867) was a French Neoclassicism, Neoclassical Painting, painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic ...

from 1811 ) to the Museum of Aix en Provence, which was renamed the ''

Musée Granet The Musée Granet is a museum in the quartier Mazarin, Aix-en-Provence, France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French G ...

'' in 1949, the centenary of his death.

Gallery

Image:François Marius Granet - La récolte des citrouilles à la Bastide de Malvalat.jpg, ''La Récolte des citrouilles à la Bastide de Malvalat'' (1796)
(

, Aix-en-Provence) Image:François Marius Granet - Le Choeur de la Chapelle des Capucins à Rome.jpg, ''Le Chœur de la Chapelle des Capucins à Rome'' (1808) Image:François Marius Granet - La Trinité-des-Monts et la Villa Médicis, à Rome.jpg, ''La Trinité-des-Monts et la Villa Médicis, à Rome'' (1808)
(

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

, Paris) Image:François Marius Granet - Stella en prison.jpg, ''Stella in Prison'' (1810)
(Pushkin Museum, Moscow) File:Montaigne_visitant_Le_Tasse_en_prison_-_François_Marius_Granet_-_MBA_Lyon_2014_(cropped).jpg, '' Montaigne Visiting Torquato Tasso in Prison'' (1820)
(Musee Fabre, Montpellier) File:Interrogatoire_de_Savonarole_-_François_Marius_Granet_-_MBA_Lyon_2014.JPG, '' The Examination of Savonarola'' (1846) by François Marius Granet
( Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, Lyon)

Memorial

A museum in the centre of

is named after him, the ''

''. It was built in 1838,Musée Granet - Aix en Provence
and holds eight paintings by

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...

Notes

References

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Granet, Francois 1775 births 1849 deaths Artists from Aix-en-Provence Painters from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 18th-century French painters French male painters 19th-century French painters Members of the Académie des beaux-arts 19th-century French male artists 18th-century French male artists