Background
Paul Delaroche was born on July 17, 1797 in Paris, France. His father, Gregoire-Hippolyte Delaroche, was an art expert and a prominent art dealer in Paris. Paul had a brother, Jules-Hippolyte Delaroche, who was also a painter.
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In 1816, Paul enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. At the end of 1817, the painter left the École.
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In 1845, Paul was made an Honorary Academician of the National Academy of Design in New York City.
Paul Delaroche was born on July 17, 1797 in Paris, France. His father, Gregoire-Hippolyte Delaroche, was an art expert and a prominent art dealer in Paris. Paul had a brother, Jules-Hippolyte Delaroche, who was also a painter.
In 1816, Paul enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he studied under the tutelage of Louis Étienne Watelet. Initially, Delaroche focused on landscapes, but later, he showed his disinterest in this vein and acted on his overall disagreement to the French academic system. At the end of 1817, the painter left the École.
In 1818, Paul started to attend the studio of Antoine-Jean Gros, where he could develop his interest in history painting.
In 1822, Paul exhibited for the first time at the Salon in Paris. There, he represented such works, as "Christ Descended from the Cross" and "Jehosheba Saving Joash". Also, it was at the Salon, that he met and became friends with Theodore Gericault and Eugene Delacroix.
In the 1820's, Delaroche established a studio in the Rue Mazarine in Paris, where he developed his naturalist style of historical art. Among his subjects were well-known scenes from the lives of famous historical figures, including numerous members of English royalty, Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, Joan of Arc, Cardinal Richelieu, Marie Antoinette, Peter the Great, Napoleon and others. At the end of the decade, Delaroche was recognized as one of the best history painters in France.
In 1833, Paul became a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts, where among his students were Thomas Couture, Jean-Francois Millet and Jean-Leon Gerome. In 1834, the painter again participated in Salon, where he exhibited one of his great works of Romanticism, named "The Execution of Lady Jane Grey" (1833), to great acclaim. But some time later, in 1837, his works received negative reviews from the critics and Paul never returned to the Salon again. Also, in the 1830's, Paul became interested in engraving and produced a series of prints of his historical paintings. He also produced religious paintings, including a series of small pictures of incidents from the Passion of Christ and a number of portrait paintings.
In 1837, Paul won the commission for "The Hemicycle", a huge painting, depicting seventy-five of the most eminent figures in philosophy, painting, sculpture and architecture. Although completed in 1841, it was seriously damaged by fire in 1855. Delaroche began the restoration immediately, but died in November 1856, before making much progress. The work was finished by Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury.
The Childhood of Pico della Mirandola
Joan d'arc Being Interrogated
Hémicycle (Section 2)
The Young Martyr
Death of Elizabeth I, Queen of England
Hémicycle (Section 3)
The Children of Edward
Resting on the Banks of the Tiber
A Child Learning to Read
Countess Potocka Playing Piano
Hémicycle (Central Section)
The State Barge of Cardinal Richelieu on the Rhone
Young Mother and Her Children
Portrait of Henrietta Sontag
Girl in a Basin
Innocence
Herodias
The Execution of Lady Jane Grey
Napoleon crossing the Alps
Cromwell beside the Coffin of Charles I
Assassination of Henry I, Duke of Guise
Peter the Great
A Family Scene
Saint Veronica
Fra Filippo Lippi Falling in Love with his Model
Cardinal Mazarin Dying
Napoléon Bonaparte Abdicated in Fontainebleau
Mother and Child
The Temptation of St. Anthony
Marquis de Pastoret
Portrait du comte James-Alexandre de Pourtalès-Gorgier
Strafford
Virgin and Child
Delaroche married Louise Vernet in 1835. She died ten years later.