Nicolas Colombel (c. 1644 – 1717) was a French painter, much influenced by Poussin.

Life

Colombel was born at Sotteville, near

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

, in about 1644. He went to Rome when quite young, and remained there until 1692, forming his style by a study of the works of

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 ...

and

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythologic ...

. His pictures met with considerable success, but most later critics dismissed him as a mere imitator of Poussin. He was admitted into the Academy of St Luke at Rome in 1686, and in 1694 into that of Paris. The

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

possesses the ''Mars and Rhea Sylvia'', which he painted for his reception to the Academy, and a work representing the ''Saint Hyacinth Saving the Statue of the Virgin from the Enemies of the Name of Christ ''. He was employed by

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

at both

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 ...

and

Meudon Meudon () is a French Communes of France, commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, on the left bank of the Seine. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of P ...

. Many of his works were engraved by Dufloc, and by Michel Dossier. He died in Paris in 1717. Sir Edmund Head, writing in 1848, described Colombel as "in some sense a master who stood alone among his contemporaries in dignity of feeling, and in the solid character of his art." More recently, Didier Rykner has described his work as "generally easy to recognise", adding " olombeldoes indeed have his own style, consisting in a gentle Classicism, at times a bit affected, a fondness for subtle and porcelain-like colors, deep blues (close to Sassoferrato)." A considerable number of paintings have been attributed to Colombel in recent years, including an altarpiece, ''Saint Dominic Presenting the Dominican Order to Christ'', in the collection of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Grenoble, identified in 2000. An exhibition of Colombel's work was held between November 2012 and February 2013 at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen.

References and sources

;References ;Sources Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Colombel, Nicolas 1640s births 1717 deaths People from Seine-Maritime Painters from Normandy 17th-century French painters French male painters 18th-century French painters Painters from Paris Painters from Rome 18th-century French male artists