Jean-Baptiste Isabey

French, 1767-1855

BiographyAt the age of nineteen, after some lessons from Dumont, miniature painter to Marie Antoinette, he became a pupil of Jacques-Louis David. Employed at Versailles on portraits of the dukes of Angoulême and Berry, he was given a commission by the queen, which opens the long list of those he received from successive French rulers until his death in 1855.

Patronized by Josephine and Napoleon Bonaparte, he arranged the ceremonies of their coronation and prepared drawings for the publication intended as its official commemoration. He was paid by Louis XVIII, whose portrait (engraved by Debucourt) he executed in 1814. Although Isabey did homage to Napoleon on his return from Elba, he continued to enjoy the favour of the Restoration, and took part in arrangements for the coronation of Charles X.

The July Monarchy conferred Isabey an important post in connection with the royal collections. Napoleon III granted him a pension, and the cross of commander of the Legion of Honor.

A biography of Isabey was published by Edmond Taigny in 1859, and Charles Lenormant's article, written for Michaud's Biog. Univ., is founded on facts furnished by Isabey's family

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