Robert Jacques François Faust Lefèvre (, 24 September 1755, in

Bayeux Bayeux (, ; ) is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in northwestern France. Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. It is also known as the fir ...

– 3 October 1830, 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 ...

) was a French painter of

portrait 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 r ...

history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and B ...

s and religious paintings. He was heavily influenced by

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...

and his style is reminiscent of the antique.

Life

Robert Lefèvre made his first drawings on the papers of a procureur to whom his father had apprenticed him. With his parents' consent, he abandoned this apprenticeship and walked from Caen to Paris to become a student 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 ...

(in whose studio he met and became friends with Charles Paul Landon). At the 1791

Paris Salon The Salon (), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art event in the Western world. At the ...

he exhibited his ''Dame en velours noir'', the point of departure for his reputation. In 1805, Lefèvre painted the portrait of

Empress Joséphine The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/ grand empress dowager), or a woman who rule ...

, and in 1807 a matching portrait of Napoléon was painted by

Louis-André-Gabriel Bouchet Louis-André-Gabriel Bouchet (1759 – 7 July 1842) was a French historical painter and a pupil of Jacques-Louis David. He painted subjects from sacred and profane history, poetry, and portraits. He won the in 1797, and continued to Salon (Paris ...

. Napoléon gave both paintings to the city of

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

in 1807, where they are today in the city hall and decorate the entrance hall. His other portraits of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, Joséphine, Madame Laetitia, Guérin,

Carle Vernet Antoine Charles Horace Vernet, better known as Carle Vernet (; 14 August 175827 November 1836), was a French painter, the youngest child of Claude-Joseph Vernet and the father of Horace Vernet. Biography Vernet was born in Bordeaux. At the a ...

(a portrait which is now at 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 ...

) and

pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII (; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823) was head of the Catholic Church from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. He ruled the Papal States from June 1800 to 17 May 1809 and again ...

made him a fashionable portrait artist and one of the main portraitists of the imperial personalities, a reputation sealed by his portrait of Napoleon's new wife

Marie Louise Marie Louise or Marie-Louise is a French feminine given name, compound given name. In other languages, it may take one of several alternate forms: * Maria Luiza (Bulgarian, Portuguese) * Maria Luisa (Italian, Spanish) * Maria Luise (German) * Mari ...

. On the Bourbon Restoration Robert Lefèvre painted a portrait of

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 ...

for the

Chambre des Pairs The Chamber of Peers () was the upper house of the French parliament from 1814 to 1848. History The Peerage of France was recreated by the Charter of 1814 at the same time as the Bourbon Restoration in France, Bourbon Restoration, albeit on a ...

and received the cross of the

Légion d'honneur 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 the title of First Painter to the King, losing the latter on 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 ...

. He painted a large number of portraits and history paintings. The main example of his portraits are those of Malherbe (Bibliothèque publique de Caen),

Charles X Charles X may refer to: * Charles X of France (1757–1836) * Charles X Gustav (1622–1660), King of Sweden * Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (1523–1590), recognized as Charles X of France but renounced the royal title See also * * King Charle ...

, the duchesse d’Angoulême, the duchesse de Berry, Charles-Pierre-François Augereau duc de Castiglione (Musée de Versailles), and of Dominique Vivant Denon. Two of his mythological paintings - ''Love sharpening his arrows'' and ''Love disarmed by Venus'' (t. 1,84 sur 1,30 ), were engraved by Desnoyers - the latter is reproduced in ''le Nu Ancien et Moderne''. His most notable history paintings are his ''Phocion getting ready to drink hemlock'', ''Roger delivering Angélique'', ''Héloïse and Abelard'' and a ''Crucifixion'' for the

Mont Valérien Mont may refer to: Places * Mont., an abbreviation for Montana, a U.S. state * Mont, Belgium (disambiguation), several places in Belgium * Mont, Hautes-Pyrénées, a commune in France * Mont, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a commune in France * Mont, Sa� ...

. His last painting was ''The Apotheosis of Saint Louis'' for the Cathedral of La Rochelle. While he was working on this last painting, the Revolution of July 1830 took place, an event which was to deprive him of his support and official posts. Ill, depressed and desperate, he committed suicide by cutting his throat at his house on the night of 2/3 October 1830; he was 75 years old. He was buried in the

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...

, in Paris.

Gallery

File:L'Amour aiguisant ses flèches - Robert Lefèvre.jpg, ''Cupid sharpening his arrows'' (1798) File:Lefèvre, Robert - Pierre Narcisse Guérin.jpg, '' Portrait of Pierre-Narcisse Guérin'' (1801) File:Carle Vernet by Robert Lefevre.jpg, '' Portrait of Carle Vernet'', 1804 File:Robert Lefèvre - Princess Pauline Borghese - WGA12631.jpg, ''Princess Pauline Borghese'' (1806) File:Lefèvre - Portrait de la duchesse de Berry.jpg, ''Portrait of the Duchess of Berry'' (1826) File:Maria Baryatinskaya by Robert Lefèvre.jpg, ''Maria Baryatinskaya'' (1819) File:M.F.Baryatinskaya with daugher Olga by R.Lefevre (1817, New Jerusalem).jpg, ''M.F. Baryatinskaya with daughter Olga'' (1817) File:Robert Lefevre 02.JPG, ''Portrait of Napoleon in Coronation Robes'' (1811)

References

* Gaston Lavalley, ''Le Peintre Robert Lefèvre, sa vie et son œuvre'', Caen, L. Jouan, .d. (c 1920). * ''Mémoires de la Société des sciences, arts et Belles-Lettres de Bayeux'', 1901, p. 121-2

Notes

External links

Robert Jacques Lefèvre
in

Joconde Joconde is the central database created in 1975 and now available online, maintained by the Minister of Culture (France), French Ministry of Culture, for objects in the collections of the main French public and private museums listed as ''Mus� ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lefevre, Robert 1755 births 1830 deaths People from Bayeux Painters from Normandy 18th-century French painters French male painters 19th-century French painters Knights of the Legion of Honour Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Suicides by sharp instrument in France 19th-century French male artists 18th-century French male artists