Joseph-Boniface Francou, known as Joseph Franque (11 August 1774, Buis-les-Baronnies - 14 November 1833,

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

) was a French portrait painter who worked in Italy.

Life and work

He was the twin brother of Jean-Pierre Franque, who was also a portrait painter. They went to Paris together to pursue a career in art. In 1792, both received financial assistance for their studies from the

National Convention The National Convention () was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the ...

. Sometime after 1794, they became students of

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 were influenced by the , led by Pierre-Maurice Quays. Both had their debuts at the Salon of 1806.Brief biography
@ the Istituto Matteucci In 1812 Joseph left France for Italy, where

Elisa Bonaparte Maria Anna Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi Levoy ( French: ''Marie Anne Elisa Bonaparte''; 3 January 1777 – 7 August 1820), better known as Elisa Bonaparte, was an imperial French princess and sister of Napoleon Bonaparte. She was Princess of Lucca ...

had appointed him to be an art teacher at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara. He also served as her

court painter A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

. After the fall of the Napoleonic Empire, he was invited to be a drawing teacher at the

Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli The Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli (Naples Academy of Fine Arts) is a university-level art school in Naples. In the past it has been known as the Reale Istituto di Belle Arti and the Reale Accademia di Belle Arti. Founded by King Charles VII ...

, eventually becoming a Professor in 1823. His portrayal of the Empress

Marie Louise Marie Louise or Marie-Louise is a French feminine given name, compound given name. In other languages, it may take one of several alternate forms: * Maria Luiza (Bulgarian, Portuguese) * Maria Luisa (Italian, Spanish) * Maria Luise (German) * Mari ...

watching over her son,

Napoleon II Napoleon II (Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte; 20 March 181122 July 1832) was the disputed Emperor of the French for a few weeks in 1815. He was the son of Emperor Napoleon I and Empress Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma, Marie Louise, d ...

, is on display in the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

. Several of his portraits, notably two of

Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry Charles Ferdinand d'Artois, Duke of Berry (24 January 1778 – 14 February 1820), was the third child and younger son of Charles, Count of Artois (later King Charles X of France), and Maria Theresa of Savoy. In 1820 he was assassinated at the P ...

, may be seen at the .Anna Caputi, Raffaello Causa, Raffaele Mormone (Eds.), ''La Galleria dell'Accademia di Belle Arti in Napoli'', Banco di Napoli, 1971 His ''Scene During the Eruption of Vesuvius'' (1827) is at the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

References

External links

1774 births 1833 deaths 18th-century French painters French male painters 19th-century French painters People from Drôme Pupils of Jacques-Louis David 18th-century French male artists {{France-painter-18thC-stub