Georges Rouget was a neoclassical

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...

 French painter.

Life

After studying in the école des beaux-arts, Rouget entered David's studio in 1797 and rapidly became his favourite student. Rouget began his professional career as his master's main assistant until David's exile to Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, collaborating with him on the canvases Bonaparte at the Grand-Saint-Bernard

Napoleon Crossing the Alps

Napoleon Crossing the Alps is the title given to the five versions of an oil on canvas equestrian portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte painted by the French artist Jacques-Louis David between 1801 and 1805...

, The Coronation of Napoleon

The Coronation of Napoleon

The Coronation of Napoleon is a painting completed in 1807 by Jacques-Louis David, the official painter of Napoleon.The painting has imposing dimensions, as it is almost ten metres wide by approximately six metres tall...

(of which he made a copy signed by David), Leonidas at Thermopylae

Leonidas at Thermopylae

Leonidas at Thermopylae is an 1814 painting by Jacques-Louis David now on show at the Louvre. It shows the Spartan king Leonidas prior to the Battle of Thermopylae. David's pupil Georges Rouget collaborated on it....

and on one of the three copies of the Portrait of Pope Pius VII

Portrait of Pope Pius VII

The Portrait of Pope Pius VII is an 1805 portrait of Pope Pius VII by the French painter Jacques Louis David to thank Pius for assisting at the coronation of Napoleon I of France .- History:The...

. Though winning the second prize in the prix de Rome

Prix de Rome

The Prix de Rome was a scholarship for arts students, principally of painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, in 1663 in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by...

 contest in 1803, he failed three times to win the first prize. He produced many canvases for the First French Empire

First French Empire

The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...

 and the Bonapartes, such as The Marriage of Napoleon and Marie Louise in 1811. A minor painter, he spent his whole career producing paintings of great moments in French history for whatever regime was in power at the time. Many of his paintings adorned the musée de Versailles opened by Louis-Philippe

Louis-Philippe of France

Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the...

in 1837.