French Baroque Era Painter, 1619-1690 French painter and designer. He dominated 17th-century French painting as no other artist; it was not until over a century later, during the predominance of Jacques-Louis David, that artistic authority was again so concentrated in one man. Under the protection of a succession of important political figures, including Chancellor Pierre S?guier, Cardinal Richelieu and Nicolas Fouquet, Le Brun created a series of masterpieces of history and religious painting. For Louis XIV and his chief minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert he executed his greatest work, the royal palace of Versailles: an almost perfect ensemble of architecture, decoration and landscape. After Colbert's death in 1683, he was no longer able to count on prestigious commissions  Related Paintings of Charles le Brun :. | Le Roi gouverne par lui-meme | Adoration by the Shepherds | Portrat des Bildhauers Nicolas le Brun | Hercules | The Conquest of Franche Comte |
Related Artists:
Giovanni Toscani
Italian Painter, ca.1370-1430
Johann Jakob Meyer
b Winterthur, 7 Oct 1763; d Aussersihl, Schwyz, 10 April 1830,Swiss painter and engraver. He studied under Johann Rudolf Schellenburg in Winterthur and then, in 1778, with Heinrich Rieter (1751-1818) in Berne, where he was also influenced by the topographical landscapes of Johann Ludwig Aberli. He was adept at executing such sharply detailed engravings of Swiss cities as View of Lucerne (c. 1790; e.g. Lucerne, Zentbib.), which he sold to tourists. In 1802 he published an important series of views of Switzerland, which were widely circulated. His skill as a painter of animals was sometimes combined with his rendering of the landscape, as in View of the Lake of Bienne (c. 1800; Winterthur, Kstmus.). In 1807 he taught drawing in Basle and in 1814 was active in the area around Lake Constance. His paintings are often characterized by warm colours and frequently capture the atmosphere of late afternoon, as in Murg on the Lake of Walen (c. 1820; St Gall, Kstmus.). Many of his landscapes are straightforward depictions of the Swiss countryside, stressing the romantic nature of the scene, as in View of the Area of Bex (1821; Winterthur, Kstmus.). He painted in Zurich in 1827 and was known to have travelled to Munich and Dresden. His works are important visual documents of an image of the pastoral countryside frequently propagated by Swiss artists in accordance with the philosophical ideals of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Giulio Romano
Italian 1492-1546 Giulio Romano was born in Rome. In his native city, as a young assistant in Raphael's studio, he worked on the frescos in the Vatican loggias to designs by Raphael and in Raphael's Stanze in the Vatican painted a group of figures in the Fire in the Borgo (L'incendio di Borgo) fresco. He also collaborated on the decoration of the ceiling of the Villa Farnesina. After the death of Raphael in 1520, he helped complete the Vatican frescoes of the life of Constantine as well as Raphael's Coronation of the Virgin and the Transfiguration in the Vatican. In Rome, Giulio decorated the Villa Madama for Cardinal Giuliano de' Medici, afterwards Clement VII. The crowded Giulio Romano frescoes lack the stately and serene simplicity of his master. In the Palazzo Te, MantuaAfter the Sack of Rome in 1527 and the death of Leo X, artistic patronage in Rome slackened. Vasari tells how Baldassare Castiglione was delegated by Federico Gonzaga to procure Giulio to execute paintings and architectural and engineering projects for the duchy of Mantua. His masterpiece of architecture and fresco painting in that city is the suburban Palazzo Te, with its famous illusionistic frescos (c. 1525?C1535). He also helped rebuild the ducal palace in Mantua, reconstructed the cathedral, and designed the nearby Church of San Benedetto. Sections of Mantua that had been flood-prone were refurbished under Giulio's direction, and the duke's patronage and friendship never faltered: Giulio's annual income amounted to more than 1000 ducats. His studio became a popular school of art.