Jules Victor Abel Eugène Jean Comte (17 October 1846,

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 ...

– 14 December 1912, Paris) was a French

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

and government official.

Life and work

He studied at the Lycée Bonaparte (now the

Lycée Condorcet The Lycée Condorcet () is a secondary school in Paris, France, located at 8, rue du Havre, in the city's 9th arrondissement. Founded in 1803, it is one of the four oldest high schools in Paris and also one of the most prestigious. Since its inc ...

), and was hired by the Ministry of State in 1866. In 1881, he was appointed Inspector General of the fine arts schools. Five years later, he was named Director of civic buildings, in charge of the headquarters of what is now the Ministry of National Education. From that time, through 1901, he was involved in expanding the

Bibliothèque Nationale A library is a collection of books, and possibly other materials and media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or digital (soft copies) materials, and may be a p ...

. He also participated in restoration projects at the

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

, and the Domaine national de Saint-Cloud. He was awarded the rank of Commander in 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 1895. The following year, he founded the ', which passed to Raymond Woog upon his death. He was elected to the

Académie des Beaux-Arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...

in 1909, where he took Seat #2 in the "Unattached" section; succeeding Émile Michel (deceased).

Publications

* Jules Comte, '' Tapisserie de Bayeux avec planches'', J. Rothschild, 1878

Sources

Biographical data and references
from the Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques @ La France Savante

@ the Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art

External links

Entry for Comte
@ the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

__NOTOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Comte, Jules 1846 births 1912 deaths French art historians Recipients of the Legion of Honour Members of the Académie des beaux-arts People from Paris