Antoine-Félix Boisselier (1790-1857), known as Boisselier le Jeune to distinguish him from his brother Félix Boisselier

Félix Boisselier

Félix Boisselier, ' the elder,' a French historical painter, was born at Damphal in 1776, and in early life was employed as draughtsman in a manufactory of decorative papers. At the time of the Revolution he was thrown into prison, and after regaining his liberty entered the studio of Regnault...

, was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 painter. A native of Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, he was of the same generation as Camille Corot and Achille Etna Michallon

Achille Etna Michallon

Achille Etna Michallon was a French painter.Michallon was the son of the sculptor Claude Michallon. He studied under Jacques-Louis David and Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes. In 1817, Michallon won the inaugural Prix de Rome for landscape painting. He travelled to Italy in 1818 and remained there for...

. He studied with his brother and Jean-Victor Bertin

Jean-Victor Bertin

Jean-Victor Bertin was a French painter of historical landscapes, inspired by Italy and known for the minute detail of his classical style.-Life:...

, and is known to have visited Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 around 1811, in which year he painted two oil studies of that country. He first entered the Salon in 1812, and exhibited frequently thereafter; in 1824 he won a second-class medal. In 1827 he entered the first Prix de Rome

Prix de Rome

The Prix de Rome was a scholarship for arts students, principally of painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, in 1663 in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by...

 competition for historical

History painting

History painting is a genre in painting defined by subject matter rather than an artistic style, depicting a moment in a narrative story, rather than a static subject such as a portrait...

 landscape. He placed second behind Michalllon, but nevertheless appears to have traveled to Italy soon thereafter. Many of his Salon entries, and many images he submitted to provincial salons, were views of Italian sites and historical landscapes. Later in his career he painted in the Auvergne

Auvergne (province)

Auvergne was a historic province in south central France. It was originally the feudal domain of the Counts of Auvergne. It is now the geographical and cultural area that corresponds to the former province....

 region, as well as the Dauphiné

Dauphiné

The Dauphiné or Dauphiné Viennois is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of :Isère, :Drôme, and :Hautes-Alpes....

 and Provence

Provence

Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...

. Boisselier taught drawing at the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr

École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr

The École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr is the foremost French military academy. Its official name is . It is often referred to as Saint-Cyr . Its motto is "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre": literally "They study to vanquish" or "Training for victory"...

, and maintained a popular studio; he died in Versailles

Versailles

Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...

in 1857.

Reference

• Philip Conisbee, Sarah Faunce, and Jeremy Strick. In the Light of Italy: Corot and Early Open-Air Painting. New Haven; Yale University Press, 1996.