Auguste Gaspard Louis Desnoyers
Auguste Gaspard Louis, Baron Boucher-Desnoyers (19 December 1779 in Paris – 16 February 1857), was one of the most eminent of modern French engravers.
Biography
His father held the office of commissary-general in the military household of Monsieur, afterwards
He next produced a number of small subjects of similar character, which were well received, and at the Salon of 1799 he exhibited his engraving of Venus disarming Cupid, after Robert Lefèvre, which won a prize of 2000 francs. In this year he entered the studio of Alexandre Tardieu, where he made some studies in etching and line engraving; but an engagement to engrave Hilaire Ledru's Pénibles Adieux did not allow him to remain for any great length of time. The success of his line engraving of "Hope supporting Man to the Tomb," after a sketch by Caraffa exhibited at the Salon of 1801, procured him a commission to engrave for the Musée La belle jardinière of Raphael.
Just at this time Desnoyers was drawn in the
From this time he rose rapidly to the first rank in his adopted art, and in 1806 gained the large gold medal for his engraving of the celebrated antique
His next important work was the full-length portrait of the Emperor Napoleon in his coronation robes, after Gérard. This engraving was exhibited at the Salon of 1810, and for it Desnoyers received no less a sum than £2000, together with the return of the plate after 600 impressions had been made.
Also in 1810, he engraved a small portrait of the
The empire fell, but the talented engraver continued to enjoy the favour of the court, and held a position among engravers similar to that of Baron Gérard among painters, and of
Desnoyers died in Paris on 16 February 1857. He appears to the best advantage in his transcripts of the works of ancient masters, especially Raphael, whose characteristics he renders with the greatest truth and skill. His masterpieces are the La Belle Jardinière of Raphael, and the Vierge aux rochers of Leonardo da Vinci. But, although marked by exceptional talent, his line engravings lack the freedom and breadth that distinguish those he executed in the dotted style. The landscape backgrounds of his plates were for the most part engraved by Friedrich Giessler of Nuremberg.
Works
Among Desnoyers's works the first place must be assigned to his engravings after the Madonnas of Raphael. These are as follow:
- La Belle Jardinière. 1804.
- La Vierge au Donataire. 1814.
- La Vierge au Linge. 1814.
- La Madonna della Sedia. 1814.
- La Madonna del Pesce. 1822. (pictured)
- La Madonna della Oasa d'Alba. 1837.
- La Vierge au Berceau. 1831 .
- La Belle Jardinière de Florence. 1841.
- La Madonna di San Sisto. 1846. (pictured)
Desnoyers's other works include:
- The Visitation; after Raphael. 1824.
- St. Catharine of Alexandria; after the same. 1824.
- The Transfiguration; after the same. 1840.
- La Vierge aux rochers; after Leonardo da Vinci. 1812.
- The Holy Family; after the same.
- The Magdalen; after Correggio.
- Eliezer and Rebekah; after Poussin. 1819.
- Moses rescued from the Waters; after the same. (The landscape engraved by Filhol and Niquet.)
- Venus disarming Cupid; after Robert Lefèvre; in dotted manner. 1799.
- The Muses and the Pierides: after Perino del Vaga. 1831.
- Cupid and Psyche and 'Cupid bending his bow'; after drawings by Ingresfrom antique sculpture; in the 'Musée Français.' 1808.
- Ptolemy II. Philadelphus and Arsinoe; after a drawing by Ingres from an antique cameo.
- Belisarius; after Gérard. 1806.
- Francis I and his sister, Margaret of Navarre; after Richard. 1817.
- Hope supporting Man to the Tomb; after Caraffa. 1801.
- Les Pénibles Adieux; after Hilaire Ledru; in dotted manner. 1802.
- Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul; after Robert Lefèvre. 1802.
- Napoleon I, Emperor of the French; full-length; after Gérard. 1808.
- Marie Louise, Empress of the French. 1810.
- Napoleon, King of Rome; after Gérard.
- Baron Alexander von Humboldt; an etching; after a sketch by Gérard. 1806.
- Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States of America; in dotted manner. 1801.
- Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord, Prince of Benevento; full-length; after Gérard. 1814.
Gallery
-
Madonna del Pesce, after Raphael (1822)
-
Nymphs bathing,
after Lethier (1830) -
Sistine Madonna, after Raphael (1841)
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bouillet, Marie-Nicolas; Chassang, Alexis, eds. (1878). Dictionnaire Bouillet (in French).
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(help) - This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bryan, Michael (1886). "Boucher-Desnoyers, Auguste Gaspard Louis, Baron". In Graves, Robert Edmund (ed.). Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers (A–K). Vol. I (3rd ed.). London: George Bell & Sons.
External links
- Media related to Auguste Gaspard Louis Desnoyers at Wikimedia Commons
- The American Cyclopædia. 1879. .