Pierre Subleyras (; November 25, 1699 – May 28, 1749) was a French

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

, active during the late- Baroque and early- Neoclassic period, mainly in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Life

Subleyras was born in

Saint-Gilles-du-Gard Saint-Gilles (; Provençal: ''Sant Geli''; en, St. Giles) or Saint-Gilles-du-Gard is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. It is the second most populous commune in the Nîmes metropolitan area. History The abbey of Saint-Gilles ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. He left France in 1728, having carried off the French Academy's grand prix, which provided scholarship for study in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. In Rome, he painted for the Elector of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, Frederick Christian, a "Christ's Visit to the House of Simon the Pharisee", (later engraved by Subleyras himself), this work procured his admission into the famed Roman artists guild,

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its f ...

. Cardinal

Valenti Gonzaga Valenti may refer to: People *Valenti (surname) *Valentí, Catalan form of given name Valentin: ** Valentí Almirall i Llozer Geography *Valenti rock (Βαλέντι), an islet near Crete Music *Valenti (album), album by BoA 2003 *Valenti (song) ...

next obtained for him the order for ''Saint Basil &

Emperor Valens Valens ( grc-gre, Ουάλης, Ouálēs; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the eastern half of ...

'' (also known as the ''Mass of St. Basil'', which was executed in

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

for St Peter's. Another masterpiece is his painting of ''St Camillo De Lellis coming to the rescue of the diseased at the hospital of the Holy Spirit''. He was a remarkably incisive portraitist, as evident from the portrait of Pope

Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV ( la, Benedictus XIV; it, Benedetto XIV; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope Be ...

or of the obese Cardinal

. The pope himself commanded two great paintings, the "Marriage of St Catherine" and the "Ecstasy of St Camilla", which he placed in his own private apartments. Another portrait was of the cleric and artist Giovanni Felice Ramelli, which Ramelli then replicated in miniature. Subleyras shows greater individuality in his curious genre pictures, which he produced in considerable number (Louvre). In his illustrations of La Fontaine and

Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was some ...

his true relation to the modern era comes out; and his drawings from nature are often admirable (see one of a man draped in a heavy cloak in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...

). Exhausted by overwork, Subleyras tried a change to Naples, but returned to Rome at the end of a few months to die. His wife, the celebrated miniature painter, Maria Felice Tibaldi, was sister to Isabella, the wife of Trémolières.

Partial catalogue and gallery

Paintings at the Louvre

* Don Cesare Benvenuti * L'Absolution de Théodose * Le Gaucon * L'Ermite ou Frère Luce * Les Oies du frère Philippe * Portrait présumé de Jacques-Antoine de Lironcourt * Saint Benoît ressuscite un enfant * Saint Jean d'Avila File:Benoit XIV.jpg, ''

Pope Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV ( la, Benedictus XIV; it, Benedetto XIV; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope Be ...

'' File:Subleyras la courtisane amoureuse louvre.jpg, ''Courtesan in love'' File:Collection Motais de Narbonne - L'Annonciation en présence d'ammantate c.1726 - Pierre Subleyras.jpg, ''The Annunciation in the Presence of Ammantate'' (1726) File:Pierre Subleyras - The Studio of the Painter - WGA21963.jpg, ''The Artist's Studio'' File:Justice by Pierre Subleyras.jpg, ''Justice'' File:Pierre Subleyras - Crucifixion of S. Peter.jpg, ''Crucifixion of

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupa ...

'' File:Pierre Subleyras - Mass of St Basil - WGA21955.jpg, ''Mass of

Saint Basil Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great ( grc, Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, ''Hágios Basíleios ho Mégas''; cop, Ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲃⲁⲥⲓⲗⲓⲟⲥ; 330 – January 1 or 2, 379), was a bishop of Ca ...

'' (1743)

References

;Attribution

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Subleyras, Pierre 1699 births 1749 deaths 18th-century French painters French male painters French neoclassical painters Painters from Rome Catholic painters 18th-century French male artists