Charles-Simon Pradier (25 May 1783 – 21 July 1847) was a Swiss engraver who also worked in France and Brazil. He was recognized as one of the leading engravers of his day. He collaborated with

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

on several works.

Life

Pradier was born on 25 May 1783 in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, in the

Republic of Geneva The Canton of Geneva, officially the Republic and Canton of Geneva, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of forty-five Municipality, municipalities, and the seat of the governme ...

, into a family descended from

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

refugees from the

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (, , ; ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately . History ...

. His brother was the sculptor

Jean-Jacques Pradier James Pradier (born Jean-Jacques Pradier, ; 23 May 1790 – 4 June 1852) was a Genevan-born French sculpture, sculptor best known for his work in the neoclassicism, neoclassical style. Life and work Born in Geneva (then the Republic of Geneva), ...

(1790–1852), better known as James Pradier. Pradier was a pupil of Auguste Gaspard Louis Desnoyers, who was in turn a pupil of

Pierre Alexandre Tardieu Pierre Alexandre Tardieu (1756–1844) was a French engraver. He was a member of the Institut de France, the Imperial Academy of Arts, Saint Petersburg Academy and the Accademia di Belle Arti di Milano "Brera", Academy of Milan. His students in ...

(1756–1844). He was to become one of the most distinguished engravers of his day. Pradier became a member of the Drawing Committee of the ''Société des Arts'' in 1812, but was not active in it since he usually lived in Geneva. Pradier was a member of the ''

Missão Artística Francesa The French Artistic Mission in Brazil () was a group of French artists and architects that came to Rio de Janeiro, then the capital city of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, in March 1816, under the auspices of the royal co ...

'' organized by

Joachim Lebreton Joachim Lebreton (1760–1819) was a French professor, public administrator and legislator. Biography Lebreton began his career as professor of Rhetoric at the Collège de Tulle. He was appointed administrator of Fine Arts of the Ministry of ...

which brought a number of artists to Brazil, arriving on 25 March 1816. These included the painters

Jean-Baptiste Debret Jean-Baptiste Debret (; 18 April 1768 – 28 June 1848) was a French Painting, painter, who produced many valuable lithographs depicting the people of Brazil. Debret won the second prize at the 1798 Salon de Paris, Salon des Beaux Arts. Biograph ...

(1768–1848) and

Nicolas-Antoine Taunay Nicolas-Antoine Taunay (10 February 1755 – 20 March 1830) was a French painter known best for his landscapes with scenes from ancient and modern history, mythology, and religion. Early years Nicolas Antoine Taunay was born in Paris, France, in ...

(1755–1830), the sculptor

Auguste Marie Taunay Auguste-Marie Taunay (1768–1824) was a French sculptor. Early years Auguste-Marie Taunay was born in Paris in 1768. He studied sculpture under Jean Guillaume Moitte (1746–1810) at the ''École des Beaux-Arts'' in Paris. At the age of 24 he ...

(1768–1824), the brothers Marc Ferrez (1788–1850) and

Zepherin Ferrez Zéphyrin Ferrez (or Zepherin Ferrez; 31 July 1797 – 22 July 1851) was a French sculptor and engraver who spent much of his career in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Early years Zepherin Ferrez was born in Saint-Laurent, France in 1797. In 1810 he ...

(1797–1851) and the architect

Grandjean de Montigny Auguste-Henri-Victor Grandjean de Montigny (15 July 1776 – 2 March 1850) was a French architect who had considerable influence on the development of architecture in Brazil. Early years Auguste-Henri-Victor Grandjean de Montigny was born on 15 J ...

(1776–1850). They were to form the nucleus of a royal art academy in Brazil. Pradier left Brazil in 1818 and returned to Paris. He claimed that in Brazil there was no appropriate paper for printing his works. In 1825

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

gave Pradier permission to make a print of his painting of ''

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

reading the

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...

to the Emperor

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

''. Ingres introduced changes, and made a drawing in 1830 that seems to have been the version copied by Pradier. Pradier won the cross of the

Legion of Honour 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 society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

for this engraving. Later Ingres created a smaller version of his ''Antiochus and Stratonice'' for engraving by Pradier, but the project was eventually abandoned. Pradier returned to Geneva in 1847 in failing health. He died at nearby Mornex on 21 July 1847. Pradier's last work was ''Jesus giving the keys to Saint Peter'', after a painting by Ingres, on which he worked for seven years. The engraving was exhibited in Geneva in August 1847.

Works

File:João VI de Portugal por Charles Pradier.jpg, João VI of Portugal (c. 1816) File:Charles Simon Pradier - Desembarque de Da. Leopoldina.JPG, Disembarkation of her royal highness, the archduchess Carolina Leopoldina (1818) File:Pedro José Joaquim Vito de Meneses Coutinho - marquês de Marialva.jpg, Pedro José Joaquim Vito de Meneses Coutinho, 6th marquês de Marialva (1819) File:Virgil Reading the Aeneid to Augustus by Charles Simon Pradier 1832.png, Virgil Reading the Aeneid to Augustus (1832: after Ingres) File:La Vierge aux ruines by Charles Simon Pradier after Raphael.jpg, La Vierge aux ruines (after

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

) File:Horace Bénédict de Saussure by Charles Simon Pradier after Jean Pierre Saint-Ours.jpg, Horace-Bénédict de Saussure (after Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours)

Citations

References

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pradier, Charles-Simon 1786 births 1847 deaths Swiss people of French descent Engravers from the Republic of Geneva Missão Artística Francesa Recipients of the Legion of Honour