Joseph-Désiré Court (14 September 1797,

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

– 23 January 1865,

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 ...

) was a French painter of historical subjects and

portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better re ...

Life and work

He was a descendant of the portrait painter

Hyacinthe Rigaud Jacint Rigau-Ros i Serra (; 18 July 1659 – 29 December 1743), known in French as Hyacinthe Rigaud (), was a Catalan-French baroque painter most famous for his portraits of Louis XIV and other members of the French nobility. Biography Rigau ...

and displayed an early interest in art. His first studies were with , at a drawing school established by Descamps' father,

Jean-Baptiste Jean-Baptiste () is a male French name, originating with Saint John the Baptist, and sometimes shortened to Baptiste. The name may refer to any of the following: Persons * Charles XIV John of Sweden, born Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, was K ...

. Following that, he worked at the studios of

Antoine-Jean Gros Antoine-Jean Gros (; 16 March 177125 June 1835) was a French painter of historical subjects. He was granted the title of Baron Gros in 1824. Gros studied under Jacques-Louis David in Paris and began an independent artistic career during the ...

in Paris. His allowance from his family was not quite enough for his needs, so he painted small pictures, which he sold through an agent. Despite this, he was unable to save enough money to continue his studies in Rome. Hoping that he could go at the expense of the state, he competed for 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 ...

and, in 1821, was awarded a prize for his depiction of

Samson SAMSON (Software for Adaptive Modeling and Simulation Of Nanosystems) is a computer software platform for molecular design being developed bOneAngstromand previously by the NANO-D group at the French Institute for Research in Computer Science an ...

and

Delilah Delilah ( ; , meaning "delicate";Gesenius's ''Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon'' ; ) is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved by Samson, a Nazirite who possesses great strength and serves as t ...

. During his stay there, he continued to send works back to Paris for exhibition. His painting, " The Death of Caesar", was acquired by the

Musée du Luxembourg The () is a museum at 19 in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. Established in 1750, it was initially an art museum located in the east wing of the Luxembourg Palace (the matching west wing housed the Marie de' Medici cycle by Peter Paul Rubens) an ...

in 1827. In 1828, the Académie de Rouen named him a

corresponding member The corresponding member is one of the possible membership types in some organizations, especially in the learned societies and scientific academies. This title existed or exist in the Soviet Union, GDR, Polish People's Republic, Czechoslovak S ...

, and commissioned a large painting for their new meeting room. Although their request was for an easel painting only, he produced a monumental canvas depicting the playwright Corneille, receiving honors from the nobility after the premiere of his tragedy, '' Cinna''. Court was presented with a gold medal in gratitude. Following the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...

, the government of King

Louis-Philippe Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

held a competition for a large canvas, to adorn the new room at the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

. Three topics were offered. Court chose to paint Mirabeau facing Dreux-Brézé at the

Estates General of 1789 The Estates General of 1789 () was a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), and the commoners (Third Estate). It was the last of the Estates General of the Kingdom ...

. His sketch came in second. Dissatisfied with the jury's decision, he executed the painting anyway; exhibiting it at the Salon of 1833. It may now be seen at the

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen () is an art museum in Rouen, in Normandy in north-western France. It was established by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1801, and is housed in a building designed by and built between 1877, and 1888. Its collections in ...

. He did eventually receive some major public commissions, including figures for the Hôtel de Ville (1841), and paintings for the dome of

Saint Isaac's Cathedral Saint Isaac's Cathedral () is a large architectural landmark cathedral that currently functions as a museum with occasional church services in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Gre ...

(1850). Much of his work was, however, devoted to portraiture. He had long wanted to return to his hometown so, in 1853, he accepted an appointment as Conservator at the Musée de Rouen; immediately beginning a project to renovate the museum's rooms. He succumbed to an unspecified chronic illness while in Paris receiving treatment. His remains were taken home and interred at the Rouen Monumental Cemetery. He had been the recipient of numerous honors, including the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

in 1838.Documentation
@ the

Base Léonore ''Base Léonore'', or the Léonore database, is a French database that lists the records of the members of the National Order of the Legion of Honor. The database lists the records of those inducted into the Legion of Honor The National Or ...

Gallery

File:Court - Achille présenté à Nestor lg white balanced.png, ''Achilles Introduced to Nestor'', 1820 File:Joseph Desire Court Une Jeune fille.jpg, ''Nymph and Faun bathing'', 1824 File:PeinturesMuséeFabre116 Court mort de César.jpg, The Death of Caesar, 1827 File:Guy-Victor Duperré - Court.jpg, Guy-Victor Duperré, 1832 File:Gilbert du Motier Marquis de Lafayette - high res.jpg, ''Portrait of the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

as a Lieutenant General in 1791'', 1834 File:Lar1 court 001z.jpg, '' The King Distributing Battalion Standards to the National Guard'', 1836 File:Wedding Leopold I of Belgium and Louise of Orléans (Joseph Désiré Court).jpg, '' The Wedding of Leopold I of Belgium and Louise of Orléans'', 1837 File:Court - Sylvain Charles Valée (1773-1846) - MV 1176.jpg, Sylvain Charles Valée, 1838 File:CourtPontCanal.jpg, ''The

Duke of Orléans Duke of Orléans () was a French royal title usually granted by the King of France to one of his close relatives (usually a younger brother or son), or otherwise inherited through the male line. First created in 1344 by King Philip VI for his yo ...

Laying the First Stone of the Pont-Canal'', 1840 File:Rigolette.jpg, ''Rigolette keeping herself busy while Germain is away'', 1842 File:Жозев-Дезире Кур - портрет принца П.Г. Ольденбургского.jpg, Prince Peter of Oldenburg in the Preobrazhensky Life-Guard Regiment, 1842 File:Christian VIII og Caroline Amalie i salvingsdragt.jpg, King

Christian VIII Christian VIII (18 September 1786 – 20 January 1848) was King of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederick, King of Norway in 1814. Christian Frederick was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick, a younger son of King Fred ...

and Queen Amalie in Their Coronation Robes, 1842 File:Joseph-Désiré Court - Portrait of Olga Scherbatova.jpg, ''Portrait of Olga Alekseevna Golitsyna (Scherbatova)'', 1840s File:St petersburg 2018 hermitage general staff court princess katia sherbatov (45668050465).jpg, ''Portrait of Yekaterina Alekseevna Vasilchikova (Scherbatova)'', 1840s File:Joseph Désiré Court - Portrait d'André Dupin (1783-1865), président de l'Assemblée législative en 1850 - P902 - Musée Carnavalet.jpg, ''Portrait of André Dupin'', 1850

References

External links

« Joseph-Désiré Court »
@ the Réunion des musées nationaux et du Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées.
« Joseph-Désiré Court »
@ the Base Joconde. {{DEFAULTSORT:Court, Joseph-Desire 1797 births 1865 deaths 19th-century French painters French male painters French portrait painters Artists from Rouen Painters from Normandy Pupils of Antoine-Jean Gros 19th-century French male artists

Life and work

Gallery

References

Further reading

External links