Charles Le Brun

About Charles Le Brun

Who is it?: Painter
Birth Day: February 24, 1619
Birth Place: Paris, French

Charles Le Brun

Charles Le Brun was born on February 24, 1619 in Paris, French, is Painter. Charles Le Brun was a famous French painter during 17th century. Son of a sculptor, he caught the attention of Pierre Séguier, the French statesmen who later on became the chancellor of France, and Séguier placed him at the age of eleven under the tutelage of Simon Voulet, the renowned French painter. Charles Le Brun received his first commission when he was still in his teens from none other than Cardinal Richelieu and then was appointed by Fouquet, the Superintendent of Finance, to work at his estate in collaboration with Louis Le Vau and André le Nôtre. The style created by the trio became a trend and began to be known as ‘Louis XIV Style’. The style attracted the notice of King Louis XIV. Although he had Fouquet arrested on the charge of misappropriation of funds, he quickly engaged the artists and commissioned Le Brun to create a series on Alexander the Great. Pleased by the outcome, he declared Le Brun the First Painter of France and from then on every work in the royal palaces was done under his supervision. However, Le Brun was more than a great artist. He was also a great organizer and administrator. As head of a number of art academies, he left a lasting imprint on the development of art in France.
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Does Charles Le Brun Dead or Alive?

As per our current Database, Charles Le Brun has been died on February 22, 1690(1690-02-22) (aged 70)\nParis.

🎂 Charles Le Brun - Age, Bio, Faces and Birthday

When Charles Le Brun die, Charles Le Brun was 70 years old.

Popular As Charles Le Brun
Occupation Painters
Age 70 years old
Zodiac Sign Pisces
Born February 24, 1619 (Paris, French)
Birthday February 24
Town/City Paris, French
Nationality French

🌙 Zodiac

Charles Le Brun’s zodiac sign is Pisces. According to astrologers, Pisces are very friendly, so they often find themselves in a company of very different people. Pisces are selfless, they are always willing to help others, without hoping to get anything back. Pisces is a Water sign and as such this zodiac sign is characterized by empathy and expressed emotional capacity.

🌙 Chinese Zodiac Signs

Charles Le Brun was born in the Year of the Goat. Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Goat enjoy being alone in their thoughts. They’re creative, thinkers, wanderers, unorganized, high-strung and insecure, and can be anxiety-ridden. They need lots of love, support and reassurance. Appearance is important too. Compatible with Pig or Rabbit.

Some Charles Le Brun images

Biography/Timeline

1642

Born in Paris, he attracted the notice of Chancellor Séguier, who placed him at the age of eleven in the studio of Simon Vouet. He was also a pupil of François Perrier. At fifteen he received commissions from Cardinal Richelieu, in the execution of which he displayed an ability which obtained the generous commendations of Nicolas Poussin, in whose company Le Brun started for Rome in 1642.

1646

On his return to Paris in 1646, Le Brun found numerous patrons, of whom Superintendent Fouquet was the most important, for whom he painted a large portrait of Anne of Austria. Employed at Vaux-le-Vicomte, Le Brun ingratiated himself with Mazarin, then secretly pitting Colbert against Fouquet. Colbert also promptly recognized Le Brun's powers of organization, and attached him to his interests. Together they took control of the Academy of Painting and Sculpture (Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, 1648), and the Academy of France at Rome (1666), and gave a new development to the industrial arts.

1650

Another project Le Brun worked on was Hôtel Lambert. The ceiling in the gallery of Hercules was painted by him. Le Brun started work on the project in 1650, shortly after his return from Italy. The decoration continued intermittently over twelve years or so, as it was interrupted by the renovation of Vaux le Vicomte.

1660

The nature of his emphatic and pompous talent was in harmony with the taste of the king, who, full of admiration of the paintings by Le Brun for his triumphal entry into Paris (1660) and his decorations at the Château Vaux le Vicomte (1661), commissioned him to execute a series of subjects from the history of Alexander. The first of these, "Alexander and the Family of Darius," so delighted Louis XIV that he at once ennobled Le Brun (December, 1662), who was also created Premier Peintre du Roi (First Painter of the King) with a pension of 12,000 livres, the same amount as he had yearly received in the Service of the magnificent Fouquet. The King had declared him "the greatest French Artist of all time".

1663

From this date all that was done in the royal palaces was directed by Le Brun. In 1663, he became Director of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, where he laid the basis of academicism and became the all-powerful, peerless master of 17th-century French art. It was during this period that he dedicated a series of works to the history of Alexander The Great (The Battles of Alexander The Great), and he did not miss the opportunity to make a stronger connection between the magnificence of Alexander and that of the great King. While he was working on The Battles, Le Brun's style became much more personal as he moved away from the ancient masters that influenced him.

1677

The works of the gallery of Apollo in the Louvre were interrupted in 1677 when he accompanied the king to Flanders (on his return from Lille he painted several compositions in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye), and finally—for they remained unfinished at his death—by the vast labours of Versailles, where he reserved for himself the Halls of War and Peace (Salons de la Guerreand de la Paix, 1686), the Ambassadors' Staircase, and the Great Hall of Mirrors (Galerie des Glaces, 1679–1684). Le Brun's decoration is not only a work of art, it is the definitive monument of a reign.

1690

At the death of Colbert, François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois, Colbert's enemy, who succeeded as superintendent in the department of public works, showed no favour to Le Brun who was Colbert's favorite, and in spite of the king's continued support Le Brun felt a bitter change in his position. This contributed to the illness which on 22 February 1690 ended in his death in his private mansion, in Paris.

1698

In his posthumously published treatise, Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions (1698), he promoted the expression of the emotions in painting. It had much influence on art theory for the next two centuries.

2013

On 23 January 2013, artistic advisors for the Hôtel Ritz Paris, Wanda Tymowska and Joseph Friedman, announced the discovery of The Sacrifice of Polyxena, an early work of Le Brun. The picture, dated 1647, ornamented the Coco Chanel suite of the famous Parisian palace, and went unnoticed for over a century.

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