Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres was the son of a father who painted
miniatures, worked as sculptor and a stonemason and was an amateur
musician. His early education ended when the French Revolution
caused his school to closed in 1791. His father took him to
Toulouse where he studied at the Académie Royale de Peinture
Sculpture et Architecture under J.P. Vigan, J. Briant and J.
Roques. He also received lessons from the violinist Lejeune.
After
winning a first prize in drawing he went to Paris in 1797. There
he was a pupil of J.L. David and he worked in his studio. In
1799 he went to the École des Beaux-Arts where he won the Grand
Prix the Rome in 1801 for "Ambassadors of Agamemnon in the tent
of Achilles". He continued to work in Paris where he was selected
as one of five painters to make large portraits of Napoleon.
In 1806 he was engaged to Marie-Anne-Julie Forestier, a painter
and musician. In September of that year he finally received
funds to go to Rome, leaving just before his portrait of Napoleon
I was shown at the Salon.
In Rome he read the negative
reactions of the critics to his painting and he was outraged.
He refused to return to Paris and his engagement was broken.
He worked at the Villa Medici and painted portraits as well
as history scenes. In 1813 he proposed to Madeleine Chapelle
without having met her. She accepted him and it became a happy
marriage. Meanwhile, the paintings he sent to France still received
bad reviews. In 1814 he went to Naples to paint Queen Caroline
and other members of her family. When the Napoleontic empire
fell he was left without patronage and made a living by drawing
the portraits of tourists.
In Italy he befriended Paganini
and other musicians and frequently played the violin. In 1820
the sculptor Bartolini, a fried from Paris, invited him to
Florence. He received a commission to paint the vow of Louis
XIII for the Cathedral of Montauban and spent four years on
this painting. In 1824 he accompanied it to Paris, where it
was exhibited at the Salon. Finally he received positive reactions
in France. He was famous overnight and in 1825 he received the
Cross of the Legion of Honor. During the same year he was elected
into the Académie des Beaux Arts, receiving one vote more than
Horace Vernet.
The following years he was very busy
working in his studio in Paris, but after a critical review
of "Martyrdom of Saint Symphorien" in 1834 he returned to Rome
where he succeeded Horace Vernet as the director of the École
de France. His painting "The Stratonice" was received very well
in France and in 1841 he returned to Paris. On June 5th, 1841
he dined with king Louis Philippe in Neuilly-sur-Seine.
On
July 27, 1849 he was devastated by the death of his wife. In
1852 he married Delphine Ramel, who was 28 years his junior.
This marriage was a success as well. Napoleon III created him
grand officer of the Legion of Honour and personally handed
him his Medal of Honour of the Exposition Universelle of 1855.
In 1862 the emperor awarded him a seat in the Senate. He was
able to continue working until he died of pneumonia in 1867.
Family
• Wife: Ramel, Delphine (1852-1867, Versailles, Yvelines)
Related persons
• was a friend of Alaux, Jean
• was teacher of Amaury-Duval, Eugène-Emmanuel
• was admired by Bachmann, Otto
• was teacher of Chassériau, Théodore
• was teacher of Chenavard, Paul
• painted Cherubini, Luigi
• was pupil of David, Jacques-Louis
• was teacher of Janmot, Louis
• painted Murat, Laetitia Josephine
• painted Napoleon I Bonaparte
• drew Paganini, Niccolò
• painted Ramel, Delphine
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