Michel Corneille the Younger (1642 – 16 August 1708) was a 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...

, etcher

Etching

Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...

 and engraver

Engraving

Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...

, b. in Paris in 1642; d. at the Gobelins manufactory at Paris, 16 August 1708.

Life

Corneille was born in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, the son of an artist, Michel Corneille the Elder

Michel Corneille the Elder

Michel Corneille the Elder was a French painter, etcher, and engraver.-Life:Corneille was born in Orléans. He was one of many who studied with the celebrated master Simon Vouet, who exerted a despotic influence over the French School, and impressed his artistic personality so strongly on all his...

 of Orléans, and on this account is sometimes called the "younger Michel". He is also and more commonly known as the "elder Corneille" (Corneille l'Aîné), to distinguish him from a younger brother, Jean-Baptiste Corneille

Jean-Baptiste Corneille

Jean-Baptiste Corneille was a French painter, etcher, and engraver.-Life:Corneille was born in Paris between 1646 and 1649. He was the youngest son of Michel Corneille the Elder of Orléans, and brother of the younger Michel. He is known as "the younger Corneille"...

, also a painter. His father was the first and the most indefatigable of his teachers; his other masters were Pierre Mignard

Pierre Mignard

Pierre Mignard , called "Le Romain" to distinguish him from his brother Nicolas Mignard, was a French painter...

 and the celebrated Charles Lebrun. Devoting himself wholly to historical painting, Michel won the Academy Prize and went to Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 on the king's pension; but feeling his genius hampered by the restrictions of the prize, he gave up the money so that he might study the antique in his own way. Coming under the then powerful influence of the Eclectics

Eclecticism

Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.It can sometimes seem inelegant or...

, he studied with the Carracci

Accademia degli Incamminati

The Accademia degli Incamminati was one of the first art academies in Italy. It was originally created around 1580 in Bologna as the Accademia dei Desiderosi and was sometimes known as the Accademia dei Carracci after its founders the Carracci cousins , with Annibale heading the institution thanks...

 and modelled his style on theirs. In 1663 he returned to Paris and was elected a member of the Royal Academy

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...

, his picture on entering being "Our Lord's Appearance to St. Peter after His Resurrection". In 1673 he became an adjunct, and, in 1690, a full, professor in the Academy.

Corneille painted for the king at Versailles

Versailles

Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...

, Meudon

Meudon

Meudon is a municipality in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the département of Hauts-de-Seine. It is located from the center of Paris.-Geography:...

, and Fontainebleau

Fontainebleau

Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau...

, and decorated in fresco

Fresco

Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...

 many of the great Paris churches, notably Notre-Dame, the church of the Capuchins

Order of Friars Minor Capuchin

The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...

, and the chapel of Saint-Grégoire in the Invalides. His style, reminiscent of the old masters, is the conventional style of the Eclectics; his drawing is remarkably careful and exact, the expression on the faces of his religious subjects is dignified and noble, the management of chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro in art is "an Italian term which literally means 'light-dark'. In paintings the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume and modelling of the subjects depicted"....

 excellent, and the composition harmonious, but suggestive of the Venetian School. From his insufficient knowledge of the composition of pigment

Pigment

A pigment is a material that changes the color of reflected or transmitted light as the result of wavelength-selective absorption. This physical process differs from fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, in which a material emits light.Many materials selectively absorb...

s, the colour in many of his pictures has suffered such a change that it is today disagreeable; but the artist possessed a good colour-sense, and contemporary records go to prove that his colour was refined and pleasing. He etched and engraved over a hundred plates in a bold and free style, for he was a master of the line; but he subsequently spoiled the effect by too much and too precise work with the engraver. A dishonest dealer put Raphael's name on some of Michel Corneille's plates, and for a long time no one disputed their attribution to the great master. For many years Corneille resided at the Gobelins Manufactory

Gobelins manufactory

The Manufacture des Gobelins is a tapestry factory located in Paris, France, at 42 avenue des Gobelins, near the Les Gobelins métro station in the XIIIe arrondissement...

, and was sometimes called "Corneille des Gobelins". He died in the manufactory in 1708.

Works

Among his paintings are a "Repose in Egypt", now in the Louvre, and a "Baptism of Constantine", in the museum at Bordeaux. Among his more important etched and engraved works are: "The Nativity"; "Flight into Egypt"; "Abraham journeying with Lot" (wrongly ascribed to Raphael), and "Jacob wrestling with the Angel", a plate after Annibale Carracci.