Merry-Joseph Blondel (; 25 July 1781 – 12 June 1853) was a French

history painter History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...

of the Neoclassical school. He was a winner of the prestigious

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

in 1803. After the

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ( ...

of 1824, he was bestowed with the rank of ''Knight'' in the order of the ''Legion d'Honneur'' by

Charles X Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and Lou ...

of France and offered a professorship at the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French '' grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Scien ...

: a position in which he remained until his death in 1853. In 1832, he was elected to a seat at the

Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

in Paris. Blondel was a student of the Neoclassical master Baron Jean-Baptiste Regnault and from 1809, a lifelong friend of the painter

Ingres Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ( , ; 29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867) was a French Neoclassical painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic orthodoxy against the a ...

. For much of Blondel's painting career, he was occupied with public commissions for paintings and frescoes in important buildings, including palaces, museums and churches. Blondel completed major commissions for the

Palace of Fontainebleau Palace of Fontainebleau (; ) or Château de Fontainebleau, located southeast of the center of Paris, in the commune of Fontainebleau, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The medieval castle and subsequent palace served as a residence ...

, the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

, the

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, the Brongniart Palace (also known as the ''Bourse de Paris''), the

Luxembourg Palace The Luxembourg Palace (french: Palais du Luxembourg, ) is at 15 Rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It was originally built (1615–1645) to the designs of the French architect Salomon de Brosse to be the royal residence of th ...

, and the churches of St.Thomas Aquinas and

Notre-Dame-de-Lorette Notre Dame de Lorette (), also known as Ablain St.-Nazaire French Military Cemetery, is the world's largest French military cemetery.La Circassienne au Bain'' became infamous during the early part of the 20th century for being the subject of the largest claim for financial compensation made against the

White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between ...

, for a single item of luggage lost by a passenger on the RMS ''Titanic''.

Early life

Merry-Joseph was born on 25 July 1781 to Joseph-Armand Blondel (1740–1805), a painter and expert in

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

decoration, and his second wife Marie-Geneviève Marchand (died 1819). Merry-Joseph had two brothers and a sister, including Charles-Francois Armand Blondel, an architect. Several generations of the Blondel family had become associated with architecture and the design and decoration of buildings. Blondel's great uncle, Jacques-Francois Blondel (1705–1774) wrote a treatise on the subject and opened the first dedicated school of architecture in Paris.

Career

Dihl & Guerhard

At the age of fourteen, on the advice of his maternal uncle, Merry-Joseph went to work in the office of a Notary, an experience which he would later describe as "excruciating". After two years of complaining to his father, in 1797, a place was secured for him as an apprentice at the Dihl and Guerhard

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...

factory, where young apprentices received figure drawing lessons from the celebrated Charles-Etienne Leguay for five out of every ten working days. By 1801, however, demand for Dihl and Guerhard porcelain had increased so much that the drawing department was eliminated and apprentices were expected to focus on decorative techniques more suited to the demands of mass-production, directly on the factory floor.

Regnault's studio and the ''Prix de Rome''

In 1801, once again, Blondel convinced his father to break his apprenticeship contract as his drawing talent secured him a place in the studio of Baron Jean-Baptiste Regnault. Within a year, Blondel had acquired the nickname ''Monsieur Cinq-Prix'' (Mr Five-prizes) among his peers at the studio, on account of the number of medals and prizes he had won for his drawing. Another year on and Blondel's entry to the 1803 salon, a painting depicting ''Aeneas rescuing his father from the burning city of Troy'', won him the ''Grand Prix de Rome''. However, due to a change in the system and the temporary suspension of scholarships, no students were sent to the

French Academy in Rome The French Academy in Rome (french: Académie de France à Rome) is an Academy located in the Villa Medici, within the Villa Borghese, on the Pincio (Pincian Hill) in Rome, Italy. History The Academy was founded at the Palazzo Capranica in ...

that year and Blondel would have to wait until 1809 before he could take his place at the

Villa Medici The Villa Medici () is a Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with a garden contiguous with the larger Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in Rome, Italy. The Villa Medici, founded by Ferdinando I de' Medici, ...

Napoleon visiting the Tribunat (Palais Royal) in 1807

Rome and Ingres

On arrival at the Villa Medici in Rome in 1809, Blondel struck up a friendship with fellow student Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres which, as correspondence between the two artists demonstrated, lasted for the rest of their lives. In 1835, Ingres returned as the director of the French Academy in Rome and Blondel appeared to be the favourite to succeed him in 1840. Together with his second wife, Louise Emilie Delafontaine, Blondel stayed at the Villa Medici as a guest of Ingres for four months in 1839, during which time the three of them undertook a lengthy sketching tour of

the Marches Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to th ...

and

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. When Blondel was unexpectedly overlooked for the position of director of the Academy in 1840, Ingres sent him a "lengthy and heartfelt" letter of condolence.

Further Awards

After three years in Rome, Blondel returned to Paris and became a regular exhibitor at the Louvre salon exhibitions. At the salon of 1817, Blondel won a gold medal for his painting depicting the ''Death of Louis XII''. After the salon of 1824, the rank of ''Chevalier'' (Knight) in the order of the ''Legion d'Honneur'', was bestowed upon both Blondel and Ingres by the French King, Charles X.

Académie and École

In 1824, the year of his knighthood, Blondel was awarded a professorship at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, a position which he occupied until his death in 1853. In that same year, Blondel also competed for a vacant seat at the Académie des beaux-arts but lost out to Ingres. He was eventually elected to a seat at the Académie in 1832.

Public commissions

By the mid 1820s, his many notable achievements had firmly established Blondel as a history painter of great renown and he was accordingly rewarded with many public commissions for paintings and frescoes in important buildings, including museums, palaces and churches. Most notable among these commissions were: *at the palace of Fontainebleau - Salon and Gallery of Diana, a fresco series of 21 paintings of scenes related to the goddess Diana. *the Palace of Versailles - a series of full sized portraits depicting all the known kings and queens of France. Palais du Louvre - Conseil d'État - Antichambre -1

Palais du Louvre - Conseil d'État - Antichambre -1

*the Louvre Museum - frescoes in the Grand staircase (Personification of France receiving the constitutional charter), the ''Salle Henri II'' (scene depicting Minerva and Neptune), Rooms of the state counsel (''La France victorieuse à Bouvines'' to commemorate the victory at the

Battle of Bouvines The Battle of Bouvines was fought on 27 July 1214 near the town of Bouvines in the County of Flanders. It was the concluding battle of the Anglo-French War of 1213–1214. Although estimates on the number of troops vary considerably among mod ...

). *the Brongniart Palace (also known as the '' Bourse de Paris'') - Ceiling painting and several cameos. *the Luxembourg Palace - ceiling fresco in the ''Salle des Séances''. *the church of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. *the church of St.Thomas Aquinas - fresco cycle. Blondel was working on his fresco cycle at the church of St. Thomas Aquinas, in the 7e arronsissement when he fell ill and died in 1853.

''La Circassienne au Bain''

Louvre exhibition

Blondel's entry for the salon exhibition in November 1814 was a full sized figure painting, in oil on canvas, depicting a standing female figure, bathing in an idealised setting from classical antiquity. In typically simplistic fashion, the exhibition catalogue described the painting as ''painting no.108, Une Baigneuse'' (a bather). Critical references to the painting would later confirm Blondel's given title for the picture as ''La Circassienne au Bain''.

Loss on the RMS ''Titanic''

In January 1913, a claim was filed in New York against the White Star Line, by RMS ''Titanic'' survivor

Mauritz Håkan Björnström-Steffansson Mauritz Håkan Björnström-Steffansson () (also referred to as Hokan B. Steffanson), (9 November 1883 – 21 May 1962) was a Swedish businessman who survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic, RMS ''Titanic'' in 1912. In early 1913, Steffansson f ...

, for financial compensation resulting from the loss of the painting. The amount of the claim was $100,000 ($2.4 million equivalent in 2014); a valuation which reflected Blondel's significant artistic status at that time and making it by far the most highly valued single item of luggage or cargo lost as a result of the sinking.''New York Times'', Thursday 16 January 1913, "Titanic Survivors Asking $6,000,000", p.28

Gallery

File:Merry-Joseph Blondel - Felicite-Louise-Julie-Constance de Durfort.jpg, '' Félicité de Constance'', 1808 File:Merry-Joseph Blondel - Louis XIV.jpg, ''

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

'', 1827 File:Richard coeur de lion.jpg, ''

Richard Coeur de Lion Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...

'', 1841 File:Merry-Joseph Blondel, The Death of Hyacinthus.jpg, ''The death of Hyacinthus'', (date unknown) File:Lycurgus of Sparta, Merry Joseph Blondel.jpg, ''

Lycurgus of Sparta Lycurgus (; grc-gre, Λυκοῦργος ; 820 BC) was the quasi-legendary lawgiver of Sparta who established the military-oriented reformation of Spartan society in accordance with the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi. All his reforms promoted t ...

'', 1828 File:Raymond IV of Toulouse.jpg, ''

Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse ( 1041 – 28 February 1105), sometimes called Raymond of Saint-Gilles or Raymond I of Tripoli, was a powerful noble in southern France and one of the leaders of the First Crusade (1096–1099). He was the Count of ...

'', 1843 File:Pianiste Merry Joseph Blondel 1851.jpg, alt=Piano Player, The Pianiste 1851 (Private Collection) File:Baldwin I of Jerusalem.jpg, '' Baldwin I, King of Jerusalem'', 1844 File:Merry Joseph Blondel - Venus Healing Aeneas - 2015.412 - Art Institute of Chicago.jpg, ''

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

healing

Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas (, ; from ) was a Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy (both being grandsons ...

,'' 1820

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blondel, Merry-Joseph 18th-century French painters French male painters 19th-century French painters Painters from Paris 1781 births 1853 deaths French neoclassical painters Members of the Académie des beaux-arts Prix de Rome for painting 19th-century French male artists 18th-century French male artists