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| Antoine Coypel (1661–1722) | ||||||||||
| A history painter and etcher of the French school, and a member of a family of painters, Coypel was born in Paris. He trained under his father, Noël, and in 1672 they travelled to Rome together, where he studied the works of Bernini and, upon returning to France three years later, brought with him many of the less successful aspects of Bernini’s style. While in Rome, he won a prize from the Academy of St Luke, and in Paris he received a second academic prize in 1676. By the age of twenty he became a member of the Academy, and in 1707 he was appointed professor and rector, becoming director in 1714. In 1716 Coypel was named court painter, and the following year he was ennobled. He emerged as the most promising painter of his time, enjoying greater recognition than his father; the Regent commissioned numerous works from him, honoured him extensively, and even took lessons from him. His art was perfectly suited to the tastes of his era and was widely popular, with faces and figures characterised by French elegance, conventional style, and dramatic expression. Coypel had received a thorough literary education, which influenced his work, but the imaginative qualities in his paintings were often constrained by the artificial tastes of his age. He was also a skilled etcher, producing engravings of several of his own works, following a common practice among artists of his period. He died in Paris. | ||||||||||
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Art