Background
He was born at Locle, Switzerland, on the 22nd of August 1790.
He was born at Locle, Switzerland, on the 22nd of August 1790.
In 1805 he was apprenticed to an engraver in Paris, and he also studied painting and engraving simultaneously in the École des Beaux-Arts. With the aid of the sum of a pension of 1500 francshe given by the king of Prussiapursued his studies in Rome, where his attention was devoted chiefly to the works of Raphael.
In 1844 he succeeded Tardieu in the Academy. He died at Paris on the 27th of June 1872. Forster occupied the first position among the French engravers of his time, and was equally successful in historical pieces and in portraits. Among his works may be mentioned-The Three Graces, and La Vierge de la Ugende, after Raphael; La Vierge au bas-relief, after Leonardo da Vinci; Francis I and Charles V, after Gros; St Cecilia, after Paul Delaroche; Albert Diirer and Henry IV, after Porbus; Wellington, after Gerard; and Queen Victoria, after Winterhalter.