Portrait de Jean Alaux dit le Romain par Ingres

Jean Alaux, called "''le Romain''" ("the Roman"), (1786 – 2 March 1864) was a French

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

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 ...

and Director of the

French Academy in Rome The French Academy in 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 1666 by Louis XIV under the dire ...

from 1846 to 1852.A director of the French Academy in Rome
(The Chautauquan: Organ of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, 1891) pp. 352-5.

Biography

Alaux was born in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, the son of a painter and the second of four brothers who all became painters. He received his first lessons in art from his father, but went on to a formal training with Pierre Lacour and later with

Pierre-Narcisse Guérin Pierre-Narcisse, baron Guérin (13 March 1774 – 6 July 1833) was a French painter, born in Paris. Biography A pupil of Jean-Baptiste Regnault, he carried off one of the three ''grands prix'' offered in 1796, in consequence of the competitio ...

. In 1807 he was admitted to 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 ...

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 ...

. From 1808 he entered works for 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 ...

, but his energies were diverted when his elder brother, Jean-Francois Alaux (1783–1858), asked him to help with a large "neorama" (a type of

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...

) he was working on. Alaux eventually won the major Prix de Rome in 1815 with a work entitled ''

Briseis Briseis (; , ), also known as Hippodameia (, ), is a significant character in the ''Iliad''. Her role as a status symbol is at the heart of the dispute between Achilles and Agamemnon that initiates the plot of Homer's epic. She was married to ...

weeping over the body of

Patroclus In Greek mythology, Patroclus (generally pronounced ; ) was a Greek hero of the Trojan War and an important character in Homer's ''Iliad''. Born in Opus, Patroclus was the son of the Argonaut Menoetius. When he was a child, he was exiled from ...

'', a scene inspired by the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'' of

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

.Grunchec, P. (1985). ''The Grand Prix de Rome: Paintings from the École des Beaux-Arts, 1797-1863''. Washington, DC: International Exhibitions Foundation. p. 64. . He subsequently became a ''pensionnaire'' at the ''French Academy'' in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

from 1816 to 1820 and went on to become its director. Among his fellow artists at the Academy were Drolling, Picot, and Cogniet, along with sculptors David d'Angers, Pradier, and Ramey; he became a friend of

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 ...

. His first painting at the Academy was ''Cadmus killing the dragon at the fountains of Dirce'', which was later purchased by the

Duke of Orleans Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ...

but was destroyed in the fire which engulfed the

Palais-Royal The Palais-Royal () is a former French royal palace located on Rue Saint-Honoré in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre Palace, Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Ca ...

in the

French Revolution of 1848 The French Revolution of 1848 (), also known as the February Revolution (), was a period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation of the French Second Republic. It sparked t ...

. Alaux also painted at the Academy ''Diamedes carrying off the palladium'' and ''Episodes in the combats between the centaurs and the Lapithes''. In 1821, he returned to France, where his reputation steadily grew with works such as ''The Baptism of Clovis'' (1825), ''States General of 1838'', ''The Assembly of the notables at Rouen in 1596'', and ''States General 1614''. Under the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (), officially the ''Kingdom of France'' (), was a liberalism, liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 9 August 1830, after the revolutionary victory of the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 26 Februar ...

, he worked at the "Galerie des batailles" of the Château de Versailles, for which he painted ''The Battle of Villaviciosa'' (1836); ''The Capture of

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

'' (1837); and ''The Battle of Denain'' (1839). Alaux was appointed as director of the French Academy in

in 1846 and was caught up in the siege of Rome of 1849, involving defending Italian forces under

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

and the invading French army; he and his students were forced to temporarily flee the city for France. His directorship ended quietly with his retirement in 1852. Alaux died in Paris on 2 March 1864.

References

External links

Paintings by Alaux
(Insecula)
Portrait of Jean Alaux by Ingres
(

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

)
The atelier of Ingres in Rome
(Christie's) {{DEFAULTSORT:Alaux, Jean 1786 births 1864 deaths 19th-century French painters French male painters Prix de Rome for painting Painters from Bordeaux Academic art Members of the Académie des beaux-arts 19th-century painters of historical subjects 19th-century French male artists