Gabriel Blanchard, known as Blanchard Le Neveu, the only son of Jacques Blanchard

Jacques Blanchard

Jacques Blanchard , also known as Jacques Blanchart, was a French baroque painter who was born in Paris. He was raised and taught by his uncle, the painter Nicolas Bollery...

, was born in Paris in 1630, and studied under his uncle, Jean Baptiste Blanchard. He was, in 1668, elected Academician

Académie de peinture et de sculpture

The Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture , Paris, was founded in 1648, modelled on Italian examples, such as the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. Paris already had the Académie de Saint-Luc, which was a city artist guild like any other Guild of Saint Luke...

 on the merits of an allegorical painting of the 'Birth of Louis XIV

Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...

,' now at Versailles

Palace of Versailles

The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....

; but his most successful work was a picture of 'St. Andrew

Saint Andrew

Saint Andrew , called in the Orthodox tradition Prōtoklētos, or the First-called, is a Christian Apostle and the brother of Saint Peter. The name "Andrew" , like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the 3rd or 2nd century BC. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him...

,' which he painted for the Goldsmiths' Guild

Guild

A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...

. He became keeper of the royal collection, und successively assistant-professor, professor, and, in 1699, treasurer of the Academy. He died in 1704. Two of his sons, Nicolas and Philippe Thomas, were likewise painters.