Alexandre Cabanel (; 28 September 1823 – 23 January 1889) was a French

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

. He painted historical, classical and religious subjects in the academic style. He was also well known as a portrait painter. He was

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

's preferred painter and, with Gérôme and Meissonier, was one of "the three most successful artists of the Second Empire."

Biography

Cabanel was the son of a modest carpenter, and he began his apprenticeship at the Montpellier School of Fine Arts in the class of Charles Matet, curator of the Musée Fabre. Equipped with a scholarship, he moved to Paris in 1839. Cabanel entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris at the age of seventeen, in 1840, where he studied with François-Édouard Picot. After two failures, with the paintings ''Cincinnatus receiving the ambassadors of Rome'', in 1843, and ''Christ in the Garden of Olives'', in 1844, he won the

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 ...

scholarship, in 1845 at the age of 22. He would be a resident of the Villa Medici until 1850. Cabanel was both a history painter and a genre painter, and he evolved over the years towards romantic themes, like ''Albaydé'' (1848), inspired by ''Les Orientales'', by

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

(1829). He received the insignia of knight of the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

, in 1855. He gained more recognition with ''

The Birth of Venus ''The Birth of Venus'' ( ) is a painting by the Italian artist Sandro Botticelli, probably executed in the mid-1480s. It depicts the goddess Venus (mythology), Venus arriving at the shore after her birth, when she had emerged from the sea ful ...

'', exhibited at the Salon of 1863, and which was immediately purchased by

for his personal collection. The acclaimed painting entered the Luxembourg Museum, in 1881, and is now held at the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mai ...

, in Paris. He signed a contract with the Goupil house for the marketing of engraved reproductions of this painting. There is a smaller replica, painted in 1875 for a banker, John Wolf, now at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, in New York City. It was offered to the museum by Wolf in 1893. The classical composition embodies ideals of

Academic art Academic art, academicism, or academism, is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. This method extended its influence throughout the Western world over several centuries, from its origins i ...

: a mythological subject, graceful modeling, silky brushwork, and perfected forms. This style was perennially popular with collectors, even as when it was challenged by artists seeking a more realistic approach, such as

Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( ; ; ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and the ...

. He was also criticized by writers and critics like

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...

and

Joris-Karl Huysmans Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (, ; 5 February 1848 – 12 May 1907) was a French novelist and art critic who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans (, variably abbreviated as J. K. or J.-K.). He is most famous for the novel (1884, pub ...

, who were more open to the modern artistic tendencies. Cabanel was elected a member of the Academy of Fine Arts in the 10th chair, in 1863. He was appointed professor at the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

in 1864, where he taught until his death. He was in the same year promoted to the rank of officer of the

. Between 1868 and 1888, he was a member of the Salon jury seventeen times: "He was elected regularly to the Salon jury and his pupils could be counted by the hundred at the Salons. Through them, Cabanel did more than any other artist of his generation to form the character of the ''belle époque'' French painting".''Dictionary of Art'' (1996) vol. 5, pp. 341–344 His refusal together with

William-Adolphe Bouguereau William-Adolphe Bouguereau (; 30 November 1825 – 19 August 1905) was a French Academic art, academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of Classicism, classical subjects, with a ...

to allow the impressionist painter

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French Modernism, modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism (art movement), R ...

, and other painters, to exhibit their work in the Salon of 1863 led to the establishment of the

Salon des Refusés The Salon des Refusés, French for "exhibition of rejects" (), is generally known as an exhibition of works rejected by the jury of the official Paris Salon, but the term is most famously used to refer to the Salon des Refusés of 1863. Today, ...

by the French government. Cabanel won the Great Medal of Honour at the Salons of 1865, 1867, and 1878. However, he intervened in 1881 during the presentation of ''Pertuiset, Le chasseur de lions'', by Manet, and defended it by saying: "Gentlemen, there is not one among us who is capable of doing a head like that in the open air!" At the Universal Exhibition of 1867, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the First Class of the Order of Merit of Saint Michael of Bavaria, following his ''Paradise Lost'', commissioned for the Maximilianeum, in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, by

Ludwig II of Bavaria Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886), also called the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King (), was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke ...

. He was promoted to the rank of Commander of the Legion of Honor in 1884, and was elected associate of the Royal Academy of Belgium on 6 January 1887. He died on 24 January 1889, in his hotel at 14 rue Alfred de Vigny, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. His funeral took place in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, on 26 January 1889, in the Saint-Philippe du Roule church, then his body was transported to

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

, where it was buried in the Saint-Lazare on 28 January 1889. A monument was erected to him in 1892 by the architect Jean Camille Formigé, decorated with a marble bust by Paul Dubois and a sculpture, ''Regret'', by

Antonin Mercié Marius Jean Antonin Mercié (October 30, 1845 in Toulouse – December 12, 1916 in Paris), was a French Sculpture, sculptor, Medalist, medallist and Painting, painter. Biography Mercié entered the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, ...

Pupils

L atelier de Cabanel a l ecole des Beaux Arts

His pupils included: * Rodolfo Amoedo * Joseph Aubert * Henry Bacon * George Randolph Barse * Alexandre Jean-Baptiste Brun * Jean-Eugène Buland * Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant * Vlaho Bukovac *

Gaston Bussière Gaston Bussière (April 24, 1862, in Cuisery – October 29, 1928 or 1929, in Saulieu) was a French Symbolist painter and illustrator. Biography Bussière studied at l'Académie des Beaux-Arts in Lyon before entering the école des beaux-ar ...

* Louis Capdevielle * Eugène Carrière * Eugène Chigot * Jacqueline Comerre-Paton * Fernand Cormon * Pierre Auguste Cot * Kenyon Cox * Édouard Debat-Ponsan * * Louis Deschamps (painter) * Émile Friant * François Guiguet * Jules Bastien-Lepage * François Flameng * Charles Fouqueray * Frank Fowler * Henri Gervex * Charles Lucien Léandre * Max Leenhardt *

Henri Le Sidaner Henri Eugène Augustin Le Sidaner (7 August 1862 – 14 July 1939) was an Intimism (art movement), intimist painter known for his paintings of domestic interiors and quiet street scenes. His style contained elements of impressionism with the in ...

* Aristide Maillol * * João Marques de Oliveira * Jan Monchablon * Georges Moreau de Tours * * Henri Pinta *

Henri Regnault Alexandre Georges Henri Regnault (31 October 1843 – 19 January 1871) was a French painter. Biography Regnault was born in Paris, the son of Henri Victor Regnault. On leaving school he successively entered the studios of Antoine Montfort, Lo ...

* Iakovos Rizos *

Louis Royer Louis Royer (19 June 1793 – 5 June 1868), also Lodewyk Royer, was a Flemish sculptor who worked in the Netherlands where he received many commissions from the royal family and for public statues. Life Apprenticeship He was born in Mechelen wher ...

* Jean-Jacques Scherrer * António Silva Porto * Edward Stott * Joseph-Noël Sylvestre * Solomon Joseph Solomon * Paul Tavernier * José Ferraz de Almeida Júnior * Étienne Terrus *

Adolphe Willette Adolphe Léon Willette (30 July 1857 – 4 February 1926) was a French Painting, painter, illustrator, caricaturist, and lithographer, as well as an architect of the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret. Willette ran as an "antisemitism, anti-semitic" c ...

Selected works

Alexandre Cabanel - The Birth of Venus - Google Art Project 2

* ''The Fallen Angel'' (''L'ange déchu'', 1847), Musée Fabre,

* ''Aglaé and

Boniface Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of the church i ...

'' (''Aglaé et Boniface'', 1857), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio USA * ''

'' (''La naissance de Vénus'', 1863),

* ''Napoleon III'' (1865), Musée national du château de Compiègne, Écouen, France * ''The Death of Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta'' (''La mort de Francesca de Rimini et de Paolo Malatesta'', 1870),

* ''Portrait de la comtesse de Keller'' (1873),

* ''Thamar'' (1875) * '' Phèdre'' (1880), Musée Fabre,

* ''Ruth glanant dans les champs de Booz'' (1886), Musée Garinet,

Châlons-en-Champagne Châlons-en-Champagne () is a city in the Grand Est region of France. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims. Formerly called Châlons ...

* ''Portrait de Mary Victoria Leiter'' (1887),

Kedleston Hall Kedleston Hall is a neo-classical manor house owned by the National Trust, and seat of the :Curzon family, Curzon family, located near Kedleston in Derbyshire, England, approximately 4 miles (6 km) north-west of Derby. The medieval village ...

, England * '' Cleopatra Testing Poisons on Condemned Prisoners'' (''Cléopâtre essayant des poisons sur des condamnés à mort'', 1887), Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp * ''

Portrait of Napoleon III (Cabanel) ''Portrait of Napoleon III'' is an oil-on-canvas painting by the French painter Alexandre Cabanel. It was painted in 1865, and is now in the collection of the Château de Compiègne.https://compiegne-peintures.fr/notice/notice.php?id=347 It was ...

Gallery

File:Alexandre Cabanel - Fallen Angel.jpg, ''The Fallen Angel'' (1847) File:Alexandre Cabanel - Albayde.jpg, ''Albaydé'' (1848) File:Alexandre Cabanel - Death of Moses.jpeg, ''The Death of Moses'' (1850) File:Nymphe et Saty (Alexandre Cabanel) 1860.JPG, '' Nymph and Satyr'' (1860) File:Alexandre Cabanel 002.jpg, '' Portrait of Napoleon III'' (c. 1865) File:Expulsion of Adam and Eve (Alexandre Cabanel).jpg, ''The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Paradise'' (1867) File:Inf. 06 Alexandre Cabanel, Morte di Francesca da Rimini e di Paolo Malatesta, 1870.jpg, ''The death of Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta'' (1870) File:Cornelia Lyman Warren.png, ''Portrait of Cornelia Lyman Warren'' (1871) File:Alexandre Cabanel - Portrait Of Countess E A Vorontsova Dashkova.jpg, ''Portrait of Countess Elizabeth Vorontsova-Dashkova'' (1873) File:Alexandre Cabanel - Pandora - Walters 3799.jpg, ''Pandora'' (1873), The Walters Art Museum File:Alexandre Cabanel - Echo.jpg, ''

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

'' (1874) File:Alexandre cabanel, thamar, 1875, 01.JPG, ''Thamar'' (1875) File:Alexandre Cabanel - Harmonie.jpg, ''

Harmonie is a German word that, in the context of the history of music, designates an ensemble of wind instruments (usually about five to eight players) employed by an aristocratic patron, particularly during the Classical era of the 18th century. The Harmo ...

'' (1877) File:Alexandre Cabanel - The Daughter of Jephthah (1879, Oil on canvas).JPG, ''The daughter of Jephthah'' (1879) File:Alexandre Cabanel Phèdre.jpg, ''

Phaedra Phaedra may refer to: Mythology * Phaedra (mythology), Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus Arts and entertainment * Phaedra (Cabanel), ''Phaedra'' (Cabanel), an 1880 painting by Alexandre Cabanel *House of Phaedra ...

'' (1880) File:Alexandre Cabanel, Ophelia.JPG, ''

Ophelia Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama ''Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet. Due to Hamlet's actions, Ophelia ultima ...

'' (1883) File:Alexandre Cabanel - Cléopatre essayant des poisons sur des condamnés à mort.jpg, '' Cleopatra Testing Poisons on Condemned Prisoners'' (1887) File:Alexandre Cabanel - The Mocking of Christ.jpg, ''The Mocking of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

'' (1845) File:Alexandre Cabanel - The Glorification of St. Louis.jpg, ''The Glorification of St. Louis'' (1853-1855) File:Cabanel, Alexandre - Le Titan - 233 - Maison de Victor Hugo.jpg, ''Le Titan'' (1884)

References

External links

Alexandre Cabanel at Artcyclopedia

Alexandre Cabanel at the Art Renewal Center

Alexandre Cabanel at The Art in Pixels

Alexandre Cabanel at alexandrecabanel.com

MET Museum collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabanel, Alexandre 1823 births 1889 deaths 19th-century French painters French male painters Artists from Montpellier Painters from Occitania (administrative region) French romantic painters French neoclassical painters Prix de Rome for painting Academic art Academic staff of the École des Beaux-Arts Members of the Académie des beaux-arts Members of the Royal Academy of Belgium 19th-century French male artists