Charles Louis Müller

Charles Louis Müller [also known as Müller de Paris] (born Paris, 22 December 1815; died there, 10 January 1892) was a French painter.

Biography

He was the pupil of Léon Cogniet, Baron Gros and others in the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1837 he exhibited his first picture, “Christmas Morning.” From 1850 to 1853 he directed the manufactory of Gobelin tapestries. In 1864 he became a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts of the Institut de France, succeeding Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin.

Works

He was a fecund producer of historic pictures and portraits. Among his works are “Heliogahalus” (1841), “Primavera” (1846), “Haydée”^{[note 1]} (1848), “Lady Macbeth,” and his masterpiece, “Appeal of the Last Victims of the Reign of Terror” (“Appel des dernières victimes de la Terreur dans la prison de Saint-Lazare,” with portraits of the most illustrious victims).^{[note 2][note 3]} Also notable are “Vive l'Empereur,” awarded a medal of the first class, it is based on a poem by Méry about an episode in the battle before Paris, March 30, 1814 (1855), “Marie Antoinette” (1857), “A Mass During the Reign of Terror” (1863), “Desdemona” (1868), “Lanjuinais at the Tribune” (1869), “The Madness of King Lear” (1875), “Charlotte Corday in Prison”^{[note 4]} (1875), “Mater Dolorosa” (1877), “The Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew” and “The Massacre of the Innocents.”

He executed frescoes for the Salle d'État in the Louvre.^{[note 5]}

Evaluation

As a painter, he is more to be commended for clever drawing and composition than for his somewhat flat and mediocre coloring.

Notes

1. ^ In the Lille Museum.
2. ^ The last two are in the Luxembourg.
3. ^ John Jacob Astor IV had a replica of the last in his collection.
4. ^ In the Corcoran Gallery of Washington, D.C.
5. ^ According to French Wikipedia (visited 16 May 2011), these works were all destroyed by fire, and the Mona Lisa resides in that location now.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Müller, Charles Louis". Encyclopedia Americana. 1920. 
•  "Müller, Charles Louis". New International Encyclopedia. 1905. 
•  "Müller, Charles Louis". The American Cyclopædia. 1879. 

External links

• "Charles-Louis MÜLLER". cartelfr.louvre.fr. http://cartelfr.louvre.fr/cartelfr/visite?srv=car_not_frame&idNotice=16337. Retrieved 16 May 2011.  Decoration for the ceiling of the Denon room at the Louvre, commissioned in 1862, executed 1863-1866.

Persondata
Name	Muller, Charles Louis
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	22 December 1815
Place of birth
Date of death	10 January 1892
Place of death