Antoine Coypel

Antoine Coypel was the eldest son of the painter Noël Coypel (1628-1707). He was trained by his father, and accompanied him to Rome when the latter assumed his post as head of the Académie de France in Rome (1673-75). Antoine became a member of the Académie in Paris in 1681, and a professor at the Académie in 1684. Thanks to the early and influential patronage of the Duc d'Orléans, he embarked almost immediately on a brilliant official career, and in 1716 was appointed Premier Peintre du Roi. In addition to easel paintings depicting historical and mythological subjects, Coypel also received several prestigious commissions for decorative works in Paris and at Versailles. He was an especially refined colorist; his elegant compositions combine the rich palette of Correggio or Rubens with the dramatic grandeur of Charles LeBrun. Antoine Coypel's half brother Noël-Nicolas (1690-1734) and son Charles-Antoine (1694-1752) were also painters.