Pierre-Narcisse, baron Guérin (13 March 1774 – 6 July 1833) was a French painter, born 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 ...

Biography

A pupil of

Jean-Baptiste Regnault Jean-Baptiste Regnault (; 9 October 1754 – 12 November 1829) was a French painter. Biography Regnault was born in Paris, and began life at sea in a merchant vessel. At the age of fifteen his talent attracted attention, and he was sent to ...

, he carried off one of the three ''grands prix'' offered in 1796, in consequence of the competition not having taken place since 1793. In 1799, his painting '' The Return of Marcus Sextus'' (

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 ...

) was exhibited at the Salon and excited wild enthusiasm. Part of this was due to the subject – a victim of

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...

's proscription returning to

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, ...

to find his wife dead and his house in mourning – in which an allusion was found to the turmoil of the French Revolution. Guérin on this occasion was publicly crowned by the president of the Institute, and went to Rome to study under Joseph-Benoît Suvée. In 1800, unable to remain in Rome on account of his health, he went to

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, where he painted ''The Shepherds in the Tomb of Amyntas ''. In 1802 Guérin produced ''

Phaedra Phaedra may refer to: Mythology * Phaedra (mythology), Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus Arts and entertainment * Phaedra (Cabanel), ''Phaedra'' (Cabanel), an 1880 painting by Alexandre Cabanel *House of Phaedra ...

and Hippolytus'' (Louvre); in 1810, after his return to Paris, he again achieved a great success with ''Andromache and Pyrrhus'' (Louvre); and in the same year also exhibited '' Aurora and Cephalus'' (Pushkin Museum) and ''Bonaparte and the Rebels of Cairo'' (Versailles). These paintings suited the popular taste of the First Empire, being highly melodramatic and pompously dignified. The Restoration brought to Guérin fresh honours; he had received from the first consul in 1803 the cross of the

Legion of Honour 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 society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

, and in 1815

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. Before his reign, he spent 23 y ...

named him to the

Académie des Beaux-Arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...

. His style changed to accord with popular taste. In ''

Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas ( , ; from ) was a Troy, Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus (mythology), Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy ...

Relating to

Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (located ...

the Disasters of

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

'' (Louvre), Guérin adopted a more sensuous, picturesque style. Guérin was commissioned to paint for the Madeleine a scene from the history of St Louis, but his health prevented him from accomplishing what he had begun, and in 1822 he accepted the post of director of the

French Academy in Rome The French Academy in Rome (, ) is an academy located in the Villa Medici, within the Villa Borghese, on the Pincio (Pincian Hill) in Rome, Italy. History The Academy was founded at the Palazzo Capranica in 1666 by Louis XIV under the dire ...

, which in 1816 he had refused. On returning to Paris in 1828, Guérin, who had previously been made chevalier of the order of St. Michel, was ennobled. He now attempted to complete ''Pyrrhus and Priam'', a work which he had begun at

, but in vain; his health had finally broken down, and in the hope of improvement he returned to Italy with

Horace Vernet Émile Jean-Horace Vernet (; 30 June 178917 January 1863) more commonly known as simply Horace Vernet, was a French painter of battles, portraits, and Orientalist subjects. Biography Early career Vernet was born to Carle Vernet, another famo ...

. Shortly after his arrival at Rome Baron Guérin died, on 6 July 1833, and was buried in the church of La Trinité de Monti by the side of

Claude Lorrain Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in I ...

. A heroic portrait by Guerin hangs in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

. An 1821 gift of King Louis XVIII of France, it depicts the episode of the

Descent from the Cross The Descent from the Cross (, ''Apokathelosis''), or Deposition of Christ, is the scene, as depicted in art, from the Gospels' accounts of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus taking Christ down from the cross after his crucifixion (John 19, ). I ...

Pupils

Many artists studied with Guérin, among them

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( ; ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French people, French Romanticism, Romantic artist who was regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: ...

Théodore Géricault Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault (; 26 September 1791 – 26 January 1824) was a French painter and lithographer, whose best-known painting is '' The Raft of the Medusa''. Despite his short life, he was one of the pioneers of the Romanti ...

, Ary and Hendrik Scheffer.Frédéric Chappey, ''Les Professeurs des Beaux-Arts (1794–1873)'', dans : ''Romantisme'', 1996. N°93. .

Selected paintings

File:Pierre-Narcisse Guérin - La Mort de Brutus.jpg, '' The Death of Brutus'' (1793), Museum of the French Revolution Guerin Jeune fille en buste.jpg, '' Portrait of a Young Girl'' (c.1794)

Louvre Museum 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 ...

File:Pierre-Narcisse Guérin - La Mort de Caton d'Utique 2.jpg, ''The Death of Cato'' (1797), Museum of the French Revolution File:The Return of Marcus Sextus 1799 Pierre-Narcisse Guérin.jpg, '' The Return of Marcus Sextus'' (1799),

File:Pierre-Narcisse Guérin - Bonaparte fait grace aux revolutes du Caire 23. Octobre 1798.jpg, '' Napoleon Pardoning the Rebels at Cairo'' (1808),

Palace of 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 ...

File:Guérin Andromaque et Pyrrhus 1810.jpg, '' Andromache and Pyrrhus'' (1810)

File:Pierre-Narcisse Guérin - Aurora and Cephalus (study).jpg, '' Aurora and Cephalus'', 1811 Guerin Pierre Narcisse - Morpheus and Iris 1811.jpg, '' Morpheus and Iris'' (1811)

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...

Murder of agamemnon.jpg, ''

Clytemnestra Clytemnestra (, ; , ), in Greek mythology, was the wife of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and the half-sister of Helen of Sparta. In Aeschylus' ''Oresteia'', she murders Agamemnon – said by Euripides to be her second husband – and the Trojan p ...

Hesitating Before Striking

Agamemnon In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans during the Trojan War. He was the son (or grandson) of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of C ...

'' (1817) Louvre Museum Henri-de-la-rochejacquelein-1.jpg, '' Portrait of Henri de la Rochejaquelein'' (1816) Pierre Narcisse Guérin - The Death of Priam, 1817.jpg, ''The Death of

Priam In Greek mythology, Priam (; , ) was the legendary and last king of Troy during the Trojan War. He was the son of Laomedon. His many children included notable characters such as Hector, Paris, and Cassandra. Etymology Most scholars take the e ...

'' (1817),

Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Angers The Musée des beaux-arts d'Angers is a museum of art located in a mansion, the "logis Barrault", place Saint-Éloi near the historic city of Angers, western France. Building The museum is part of the Toussaint complex, which includes the gar ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guerin, Pierre-Narcisse 1774 births 1833 deaths Painters from Paris French barons Members of the Académie des beaux-arts 18th-century French painters French male painters 19th-century French painters Prix de Rome for painting 19th-century French male artists 18th-century French male artists

Biography

Pupils

Selected paintings

References

Further reading

External links