Saint-Yves (the elder)
Encyclopedia
Saint-Yves, Pierre (1660-1730), was a French painter of the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries.
Pierre de Saint-Yves was born in the French Ardennes (near Maubert-Fontaine) on May 3rd, 1660, within a family
protected by Marie de Guise. This princess called both young Saint-Yvess and his brother Charles de Saint-Yves
(1667-1733) to Paris in the early 1670's, as pages and sponsored their formations.
Having receiving a King's pension, Saint-Yves completed studies with a three year stay at the French Academy in Rome before returning to Paris as a painter. On January 28th, 1708, Saint-Yves became a member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, in the caterory of history painter, and he died in Paris on November 4th, 1730.
Saint-Yves is an illustrative example of the transition between XVIIth century art careers that were usually introduced by protection of high nobility sponsors, and XVIIIth century art circles organised around and in the glory of the King. To that extent, Saint-Yves' membership to the Academy as a history painter constituted the utmost position in the Court system at the time, although this category of French classical painting declined by the end of the century and has been almost totally forgotten since the XIXth century.
Thus, most of Saint-Yves' posterity lies in his art cabinet, which was bequeathed to the family of his bother Charles
and based the reputable art collection of Charles Léoffroy de Saint-Yves
.
Pierre de Saint-Yves was born in the French Ardennes (near Maubert-Fontaine) on May 3rd, 1660, within a family
Saint-Yves
Saint-Yves can refer to:Christian saints:*Saint Yves, also Saint Ives, one of two Christian saints: Ivo of Kermartin or Ivo of ChartresPeople:...
protected by Marie de Guise. This princess called both young Saint-Yvess and his brother Charles de Saint-Yves
Charles Saint-Yves
Charles Saint-Yves, or Charles de Saint-Yves, was a French ophthalmologist, famous for his treatment of the cataract and his treatise on ophthalmology.- Life and carrier :...
(1667-1733) to Paris in the early 1670's, as pages and sponsored their formations.
Having receiving a King's pension, Saint-Yves completed studies with a three year stay at the French Academy in Rome before returning to Paris as a painter. On January 28th, 1708, Saint-Yves became a member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, in the caterory of history painter, and he died in Paris on November 4th, 1730.
Saint-Yves is an illustrative example of the transition between XVIIth century art careers that were usually introduced by protection of high nobility sponsors, and XVIIIth century art circles organised around and in the glory of the King. To that extent, Saint-Yves' membership to the Academy as a history painter constituted the utmost position in the Court system at the time, although this category of French classical painting declined by the end of the century and has been almost totally forgotten since the XIXth century.
Thus, most of Saint-Yves' posterity lies in his art cabinet, which was bequeathed to the family of his bother Charles
Charles Saint-Yves
Charles Saint-Yves, or Charles de Saint-Yves, was a French ophthalmologist, famous for his treatment of the cataract and his treatise on ophthalmology.- Life and carrier :...
and based the reputable art collection of Charles Léoffroy de Saint-Yves
Charles (Léoffroy) de Saint-Yves
Charles Léoffroy de Saint-Yves was an art critic and collector in Paris.- Life and career :Léoffroy de Saint-Yves was born in Paris on October 7, 1717, and belonged to a lineage of doctors that started with the ophthalmologist Charles Saint-Yves...
.
Sources
- Nouvelle biographie générale (1852-1866), dir. Hoefer, ed. M. Firmin Didot frères p452-453
- Dom Calmet, Histoire de la Lorraine p115
- L. Vitet, L'Académie royale de Peinture et de Sculpture : étude historique (1861), Michel Lévy frères, Paris