- François Lemoyne
François Lemoyne or François Le Moine (1688 –
4 June 1737 ) was a Frenchrococo painter.He was born in
Paris . In 1701, when he was 13 years old, he entered theAcadémie de peinture et de sculpture . He studied underLouis Galloche and stayed until 1713. In 1711, Lemoyne won the Prix de Rome. Accepted as a member of the Académie in 1718, he is elected as a professor in 1733.The
duc d'Antin (Louis-Antoine de Pardaillan de Grondin) was the director of theBatiments and had a competition in 1727 for history painters of the Académie. Twelve large history paintings were submitted. Lemoyne had to share the first prize with his competitorJean-François de Troy (Paris 1679 - Rome 1752).His work and talent, notably plied in Versailles, earning him a name as the "new Le Brun". He worked with other artists of the era, such as
Nonotte ,Gilles Dutilleul ,Charles de la Fosse andCoypel . However, the excess of work, court intrigues at Versailles, and the death of his wife drove him to madness. He committed suicide in Paris in 1737 by stabbing himself seven times, six months after finishing the ceiling painting ("L'apothéose d'Hercule ") in theSalon d'Hercule in thegrand appartement du roi . With his death, the fashion of large allegorical ceilings disappeared.Works
* "Louis XV donnant la Paix à l'Europe",
Salon de la Paix inVersailles (1727)
* Ceiling of theSalon d'Hercule in Versailles (1736)
* Arch of theChurch of Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin in Paris
* "Diane chasseresse"
* "Les Nymphes"
* "Narcisse"
* He also worked at Saint-Sulpice and at theAbbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés References
* Xavier Salmon : "François Lemoyne à Versailles", Gourcuff, Paris 2001, ISBN 2-909838-57-9
* Cours sur la peinture du XVIIIe, 2006, Université Nancy 2
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