Charles Lebrun

French historical painter, born in Paris, 1619; died at the
Gobelin tapestry works, 1690. This great designer, whose fertility
was so wonderful, received his first instruction in art from his
father, and at the age of eleven was placed in the studio of
Vouet. There he attracted the notice of Poussin, and in 1642
accompanied him to Italy, remaining there four years. On his
return, he was for a while at Lyons, and then settled down in
Paris. His skill soon brought him before the notice of the eminent
personages of his day, and he received an important commission
from Fouquet, and painted a large picture for Queen Anne of
Austria, in return gave him her portrait set in diamonds. Cardinal
Mazarin introduced him to Louis XIV, and he speedily became a very
popular person at court, and held almost unlimited sway over all
artistic matters after the death of Le Sueur. He was intimately
concerned in 1648 in the foundation of the Academy, and when the
king, under the advice of Colbert, founded the Gobelin tapestry
works in 1662, Lebrun was appointed director, and was styled "a
person skilful and intelligent in the art of painting, to make
designs for tapestry, sculpture, and other works, to see that they
were correctly rendered, and to direct and overlook all the
workmen employed". Lebrun was responsible for designing almost all
the important cartoons for the early work of the Gobelin factory,
but beyond that, he was responsible for decoration and for statues
at Versailles, for a long series of allegorical paintings, and for
decoration work at Sceaux, Versailles, and Marly. When Colbert
died in 1683, Lebrun lost his great patron, and during the last
few years of his life, he withdrew from court, and fell into a
condition of melancholy which continued until the time of his
death. He was a great scenic artist, inspired by grand ideas, a
man of unceasing energy, with a fine colour sense, and good
knowledge of decoration, but his work was somewhat heavy, and the
influence he exercised over French art was not wholly to its
advantage. In designing tapestry, his art was well employed, and
he will be remembered more for his splendid designs for the
Gobelin work than for his own paintings.

GEORGE CHARLES WILLIAMSON
Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler

From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright � 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright � 1996 by
New Advent, Inc.

Taken from the New Advent Web Page (www.knight.org/advent).

This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an
effort aimed at placing the  entire Catholic Encyclopedia 1913
edition on the World Wide Web. The coordinator is Kevin Knight,
editor of the New Advent Catholic Website. If you would like to
contribute to this  worthwhile project, you can contact him by e-
mail at (knight.org/advent). For  more information please download
the file cathen.txt/.zip.

-------------------------------------------------------

  Provided courtesy of:

       Eternal Word Television Network
       PO Box 3610
       Manassas, VA 22110
       Voice: 703-791-2576
       Fax: 703-791-4250
       Web: http://www.ewtn.com
       Email address: [email protected]

-------------------------------------------------------