Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin (March 23, 1809 – March 21, 1864) was a 19th-century French painter

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

. His celebrated 1836 work Jeune Homme Nu Assis au Bord de la Mer

Study (Flandrin)

Study is a painting by Hippolyte Flandrin executed between 1835 and 1836. Flandrin had won France's Prix de Rome in 1832, a bursary which provided the winner with a trip to Rome to concentrate on their vocation...

("Young Male Nude Seated beside the Sea") is in the Louvre

Louvre

The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...

.

Early life

From an early age, Flandrin showed interest in the arts and a career as a painter. However, his parents pressured him to become a businessman, and having very little training, he was forced to instead become a miniature

Portrait miniature

A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolour, or enamel.Portrait miniatures began to flourish in 16th century Europe and the art was practiced during the 17th century and 18th century...

 painter.

Hippolyte was the second of three sons, all of whom were painters in some aspect. Augusto, his older brother, spent most of his life as a professor at Lyon and later died there. Paul, his younger brother, was a painter of portraits and religious imagery.

Hippolyte and Paul spent some time at Lyon, saving to leave for Paris in 1829 and study under Louis Hersent

Louis Hersent

Louis Hersent was a French painter.]Born in Paris, he became a pupil of David, and obtained the Prix de Rome in 1797. In the Salon of 1802 appeared his "Metamorphosis of Narcissus", and he continued to exhibit with rare interruptions up to 1831...

. Eventually, they settled in the studio of Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres was a French Neoclassical painter. Although he considered himself to be a painter of history in the tradition of Nicolas Poussin and Jacques-Louis David, by the end of his life it was Ingres's portraits, both painted and drawn, that were recognized as his greatest...

, who became not only their instructor but their friend for life. At first, Hippolyte struggled as a poor artist. However, in 1832, he won the Prix de Rome for his painting Recognition of Theseus

Theseus

For other uses, see Theseus Theseus was the mythical founder-king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, both of whom Aethra had slept with in one night. Theseus was a founder-hero, like Perseus, Cadmus, or Heracles, all of whom battled and overcame foes that were...

 by his Father. This prestigious art scholarship meant that he was no longer limited by his poverty.

Career

The Prix de Rome allowed him to study for five years in Rome. While there, he created several paintings, increasing his celebrity both in France and Italy. His painting St. Clair Healing the Blind was created for the cathedral of Nantes, and at the exhibition of 1855 years later, it also brought him a medal of the first class. Jesus and the Little Children was given by the government to the town of Lisieux

Lisieux

Lisieux is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.Lisieux is the capital of the Pays d'Auge area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland...

. Dante

Dante Alighieri

Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...

 and Virgil

Virgil

Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...

 visiting the Envious Men struck with Blindness and Euripides

Euripides

Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...

 writing his Tragedies are now in the Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon.

Upon his return to Paris in 1856, Flandrin received a commission from the chapel of St John in the church of St Séverin. As a result, his reputation became even more impressive, virtually guaranteeing him continuous employment for the rest of his life.

In addition to these works, Flandrin also painted a great number of portraits. However, he is much more known today for his monumental decorative paintings. The most notable of these are found in the following locations:

• in the sanctuary, choir, and nave of St Germain des Prés at Paris (1842-1861)
• in the church of St Paul at Nîmes (1848-1849)
• of St Vincent de Paul
  Saint-Vincent-de-Paul church, Paris
  The Church of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul is a church in the 10e arrondissement of Paris dedicated to Saint Vincent de Paul. It gives its name to the Quartier Saint-Vincent-de-Paul around it.-History:...
  
   at Paris (1850-1854)
• in the church of St-Martin-d'Ainay
  St-Martin-d'Ainay
  The Basilica of Saint-Martin d'Ainay is a Romanesque church in Ainay in the Presqu'île district in the historic centre of Lyon, France-Legend:...
  
   at Lyon (1855)

Death

In 1853, Flandrin was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts

Académie des beaux-arts

The Académie des Beaux-Arts is a French learned society. It is one of the five academies of the Institut de France.It was created in 1795 as the merger of the:* Académie de peinture et de sculpture...

. In 1863, his failing health, made worse by his hard work and extended exposure to the damp and draughts of churches, induced him to visit Italy again, where he died of smallpox

Smallpox

Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...

in Rome on March 21, 1864.

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia entry
• Delaborde, Lettres et pensies de H. Flandrin (Paris, 1865) Beul, Notice historique sur H. F. (1869).
• Jeune Homme Nu Assis au Bord de la Mer