François Perrier (; 1590–1650) was a French painter, draftsman, and

printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed technique ...

. Perrier was instrumental in introducing into France the grand style of the decorative painters of the Roman

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

. He is also remembered for his two collections of prints after antique sculptures, the ''Segmenta nobilium signorum et statuarum quae temporis dentem invidium evasere'' (Paris, 1638), and ''Icones et segmenta...quae Romae adhuc extant'' (Paris, 1645). These prints provided visual repertories of classical models for generations of European artists and connoisseurs.

Biography

Francois Perrier - Moses draws water from the Rock - Google Art Project

Perrier was born in

Pontarlier Pontarlier ( ; Latin: ''Ariolica'') is a Communes of France, commune and one of the two Subprefectures in France, sub-prefectures of the Doubs Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eastern ...

, which was at the time part of the

County of Burgundy The Free County of Burgundy (; ) was a medieval and early modern feudal polity ruled by a count from 982 to 1678. It became known as Franche-Comté (the ''Free County''), and was located in the modern region of Franche-Comté. It belonged to th ...

and thus part of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

and not in France. During the years 1620–1625, he resided in Rome, where he took as his model the practitioner of academic Baroque classicism,

Giovanni Lanfranco Giovanni Lanfranco (26 January 1582 – 30 November 1647) was an Italian Baroque painter. Biography Giovanni Gaspare Lanfranco was born in Parma, the third son of Stefano and Cornelia Lanfranchi, and was placed as a page in the household of Coun ...

while he was employed on the fresco decoration of the dome of S. Andrea della Valle, one of the earliest examples of Roman Baroque ceiling decoration.Celia Alegret
''Perrier, François''
Grove Art Online On his return to France, following a brief stay in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

he settled in Paris in 1630. Here he worked in the classicising circle of

Simon Vouet Simon Vouet (; 9 January 1590 – 30 June 1649) was a French painter who studied and rose to prominence in Italy before being summoned by Louis XIII to serve as Premier peintre du Roi in France. He and his studio of artists created religious and ...

. In 1632–1634, he had as his pupil

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, ...

, who would become a central figure of official French painting in the age of

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

. Perrier returned to Rome in 1635, remaining there for the next decade. During this period he created decorations for palazzo Peretti and saw to the publication in Paris of his great repertory of images. In 1645, once again in Paris, he painted the ceiling of the gallery of the Hôtel de La Vrillière, now the seat of the

Banque de France The Bank of France ( ) is the national central bank for France within the Eurosystem. It was the French central bank between 1800 and 1998, issuing the French franc. It does not translate its name to English, and thus calls itself ''Banque de ...

and worked with

Eustache Le Sueur Eustache Le Sueur or Lesueur (; 19 November 161730 April 1655) was a French artist and one of the founders of the French Academy of Painting. He is known primarily for his paintings of religious subjects. He was a leading exponent of the neocl ...

on the ''cabinet de l’amour'' in the

Hôtel Lambert The Hôtel Lambert () is an ''hôtel particulier,'' a grand mansion townhouse, built between 1640 and 1644 on the Quai Anjou on the eastern tip of the Île Saint-Louis, in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. In the 19th century, the name ''Hôtel La ...

. In 1648, Perrier was one of the founders of the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and was elected as one of the original twelve elders in charge of its running.Jacques Thuillier, "Les dernières années de François Perrier (1646-1649)", ''Revue de L'Art'', 99:1993, pp. 9–28. He died in

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 ...

. In 1869, the French city of

Mâcon Mâcon (), historically Anglicization, anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home t ...

founded its Musée des Beaux-arts with a bequest of eight canvases by Perrier.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perrier, François 1590 births 1650 deaths French Baroque painters Members of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture French draughtsmen Immigrants to France People from the County of Burgundy