31 Facts About Paul Delaroche

Paul Delaroche became famous in Europe for his melodramatic depictions that often portrayed subjects from English and French history.

Paul Delaroche aimed to depict his subjects and history with pragmatic realism.

Paul Delaroche did not consider popular ideals and norms in his creations, but rather painted all his subjects in the same light whether they were historical figures like Marie-Antoinette, figures of Christianity, or people of his time like Napoleon Bonaparte.

Paul Delaroche was a leading pupil of Antoine-Jean Gros and later mentored a number of notable artists such as Thomas Couture, Jean-Leon Gerome, and Jean-Francois Millet.

Paul Delaroche was born into a generation that saw the stylistic conflicts between Romanticism and Davidian Classicism.

Davidian Classicism was widely accepted and enjoyed by society so as a developing artist at the time of the introduction of Romanticism in Paris, Paul Delaroche found his place between the two movements.

Later in the 1830s, Paul Delaroche exhibited the first of his major religious works.

Paul Delaroche was born in Paris and stayed there for the majority of his life.

Paul Delaroche's subjects were painted with a firm, solid, smooth surface, which gave an appearance of the highest finish.

The first Paul Delaroche picture exhibited was the large Jehosheba saving Joash.

Paul Delaroche visited Italy in 1838 and 1843, when his father-in-law, Horace Vernet, was director of the French Academy in Rome.

Paul Delaroche was born into the petty lord de la Roche family, a family of artists, dealers, collectors, and art administrators.

Paul Delaroche's father, Gregoire-Hippolyte Delaroche, was a prominent art dealer in Paris.

Paul Delaroche was the second of two sons and was introduced to fine art at a young age.

At age nineteen, Paul Delaroche was afforded by his father the opportunity to study at L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts under the instruction of Louis Etienne Watelet.

Paul Delaroche was influenced by his father to focus on landscapes while he was at L'Ecole because his brother, Jules-Hippolyte Paul Delaroche, already focused on painting history.

The schooling Paul Delaroche received at L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts tied him to the ideas of Academicism and Neo-Classicism while his time spent in the studio of Gros aroused his interest in history and its representation through Romanticism.

Paul Delaroche studied the recent tradition of English history painting at the time, which he incorporated into his own productions.

Paul Delaroche's focus on English history brought him popularity in Britain in the 1830s and 1840s.

Paul Delaroche recognized his lack of experience in religious painting and so travelled for one year in Italy to educate himself on the religious works of the past.

Paul Delaroche carefully researched the costumes and accessories and settings he included in his paintings in order to accurately present his subject.

The public eye is less observant of fine details and nuances in painting, but Paul Delaroche appreciated the literary value of his paintings over their pictorial value.

Paul Delaroche did not complete this project alone; four of his students assisted him and together they worked from 1837 to 1841.

In 1855 the work was severely damage by fire and Paul Delaroche spent the last year of his life restoring his work.

Paul Delaroche died in 1856 and restoration was taken over by Tony Robert-Fleury, a student of Paul Delaroche.

Paul Delaroche married Louise in 1835, in which year he exhibited Head of an Angel, which was based on a study of her.

Paul Delaroche focused attention on the human drama of the Passion, as in a painting where Mary and the apostles hear the crowd cheering Jesus on the Via Dolorosa, and another where St John escorts Mary home after her son's death.

In 1837, Paul Delaroche received the commission for the great picture that came to be known as the Hemicycle, a Raphaelesque tableau influenced by The School of Athens.

Paul Delaroche finished the work in 1841, but it was considerably damaged by a fire in 1855.

Paul Delaroche immediately set about trying to re-paint and restore the work, but died on 4 November 1856, before he had accomplished much of this.

Wilson's widow, Becky, was reported to have decided to keep the painting, but allow it to go on display at the British Museum in London when a Paul Delaroche exhibition takes place.