Beaux-Arts de Carcassonne - Buste de Jacques Gamelin - Alexandre Falguiere

Jacques Gamelin (October 3, 1738 – October 12, 1803) was an artist born in

Carcassonne Carcassonne is a French defensive wall, fortified city in the Departments of France, department of Aude, Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the department. ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, the son of a successful merchant. After receiving an education from the Jesuits, he went into the service of Nicolas Joseph de Marcassus, baron de Puymaurin (1718–1791), a wealthy industrialist of

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, in order to learn the ways of business. Puymaurin quickly saw that his young assistant had little talent or interest in business but showed great promise as an artist. Gamelin's father rejected Puymaurin's suggestion that Jacques be sent to an art academy, so the baron paid his way at the

Académie royale de Toulouse An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

himself. After five years study, Jacques Gamelin won the Académie's first prize and he went to Paris to continue his studies. Gamelin later went to Rome with Puymaurin's financial assistance to study under

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...

and

Joseph-Marie Vien Joseph-Marie Vien (sometimes anglicised as Joseph-Mary Wien; 18 June 1716 – 27 March 1809) was a French painter. He was the last holder of the post of Premier peintre du Roi, serving from 1789 to 1791. Biography He was born in Montpellier. P ...

and eventually became a painter to

Pope Clement XIV Pope Clement XIV (; ; 31 October 1705 – 22 September 1774), born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 May 1769 to his death in September 1774. At the time of his elec ...

. On the death of his father, which left Jacques a wealthy man, he returned to Toulouse where he taught at the Académie. He is most known today for his paintings and engravings of battle scenes, which can be found in art museums throughout France. Jacques Gamelin died in Carcassonne on October 12, 1803. When Jacques Gamelin returned to France after his father's death, he undertook his great work, ''Nouveau recueil d'ostéologie et de myologie'', most likely funding its publication using some of his great inheritance. The work is known for its display of both talent and imagination, with striking scenes of the

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

, the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

, and skeletons at play. Aside from the full-page copperplate illustrations by Gamelin and the engraver Lavalée, the work contains a number of intriguing vignettes on the title pages and elsewhere, which show battle scenes, visitations by death on unsuspecting revelers, and the anatomical artist's studio.

References

* ''Dictionnaire de biographie française.'' (Paris: Librairie Letouzey et ané, 1933-). Vol. XV, col. 309–310. * ''Morton's Medical Bibliography (Garrison and Morton).'' Ed. by Jeremy Norman. 5th ed. (Aldershot, Hants.: Scolar Press; Brookfield, Vt., USA : Gower Pub. Co., 1991). No. 401.1.

External links

Jacques Gamelin: ''Nouveau receuil d'ostéologie et de myologie dessiné après nature … pour l'utilité des sciences et des arts.'' (Toulouse, 1779)
Selected pages scanned from the original work. Historical Anatomies on the Web. US National Library of Medicine. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gamelin 1738 births 1803 deaths People from Carcassonne 18th-century French painters French court painters Pupils of Jacques-Louis David