Louis Léopold Robert
Louis Léopold Robert | |
---|---|
Born | La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland | 13 May 1794
Died | 20 March 1835 Venice, Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia (now Italy) | (aged 40)
Known for | Painting |
Louis Léopold Robert (13 May 1794 – 20 March 1835) was a Swiss painter.
Biography
He was born at La Chaux-de-Fonds (Neuchâtel) in Switzerland, but left his native place with the engraver Jean Girardet at the age of sixteen for Paris.
He was on the eve of obtaining the grand prix for engraving when the events of 1815 blasted his hopes, for Neuchâtel was restored to Prussia, and Robert was struck off the list of competitors as a foreigner. Whilst continuing his studies under Girardet he had never ceased to frequent the studio of David, and he now determined to become a painter, and only returned to his native country when his master himself was exiled. At Neuchâtel he attracted the notice of Roullet de Mezerac, who enabled him by a timely loan to proceed to Rome. In depicting the customs and life of the people, of southern Italy especially, he showed peculiar feeling for the historical characteristics of their race.
After executing many detached studies of Italian life, Robert conceived the idea of painting four great works which should represent at one and the same time the four seasons in Italy and the four leading races of its people. In the Return from the Fête of the Madonna dell'Arco (
There are a number of references to Robert's paintings in the novel The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, one being specifically to The Reapers.
Works
References
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Robert, Louis Léopold". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 402–403. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- Villot, Notice des tableaux du Louvre
- C Blanc, Hist. des peintres
- Feuillet de Conches, Correspondance de L. L. Robert
- Julius Meyer, Gesch. mod. Jr. Malerei