John Francis Rigaud

John Francis Rigaud by George Dance (1793)

John Francis Rigaud (born May 18, 1742 in Turin , † December 6, 1810 in Packington Hall ( Warwickshire )) was a history painter , portrait painter and decorative painter of the eighteenth century. The French-born Rigaud was born in Turin and spent most of his life in England.

Life

Rigaud was not baptized until September 9, the year he was born. He was the second son of James Dutilh (later Rigaud) and Jeanne Françoise Guiraudet. His father came from a Calvinist / Huguenot merchant family; his grandfather Jacques Dutilh and his family fled from Lyon to Geneva after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes . Grandfather Jacques died on the trip and his widow Elisabeth took her maiden name Rigaud again after their arrival in Geneva, under which the family became known. After proving his artistic ability, Rigaud studied with Cavaliere Claudio Francesco Beaumont of Turin, the history painter at the court of the King of Sardinia-Piedmont . He left Beaumont, traveled from Piedmont to Italy and studied painting in Florence and Bologna , where he became a member of the Accademia Clementina (Academy of Fine Arts) in 1766 . He then went to Rome , but had to return home for family reasons. In January 1768 he set out again, this time to Piacenza , Parma , Bologna and finally Rome, where he settled down and studied the art of the city, especially the old masters, and attended life drawing schools. There he created what he regarded as one of his most important works according to the Dictionary of National Biography : "Hercules Resting from his Labours" During his time in Rome, Rigaud became friends with the Swedish sculptor Johan Tobias Sergel and the Irish painter James Barry . In April 1770 he and Barry traveled to Florence, Bologna and Turin. Rigaud himself went to Paris for a short time and then to London in December 1771 . He exhibited his "Hercules" in 1772 at the Royal Academy of Arts and was accepted as an "Associate Member" in the same year.

While Rigaud always exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy - from 1772 to 1815 a total of 155 works - "his most lucrative and captivating occupation was decorative painting for the residences of the urban and rural nobility such as Lord Gower, Lord Sefton and the Earl of Aylesford". Some of his works shown at the academy were studies for ceiling paintings and in 1797 he showed three works labeled "Attempt at fresco painting on Portland stone ". The architect William Chambers arranged for him to work in London at Melbourne House on Piccadilly (1772 to 1774) and at Somerset House (1780). He was also involved in the decorative design of the common council chamber of the Guildhall in London (1794) and Trinity House (1796). The Dictionary of National Biography characterizes all of these works as "mostly classical figures and imitations of bas-reliefs in the fashionable Italian style Giovanni Battista Cipriani and Biagio Rebecca ". His works at the Guildhall, Providence, Innocence, Wisdom and Happiness were commissioned by Alderman John Boydell . They have not been preserved: an accompanying book published in 1819 through the building reports that “these not completely dried pictures darkened. They no longer exist ... "

Johann Reinhold Forster and Georg Forster in Tahiti (1780)

Rigaud also created historical pictures such as Entry of the Black Prince into London with his Royal Prisoner (1775) and several works for the galleries of Thomas Macklin , Robert Bowyer and for the Shakespeare Gallery by John Boydell in the late 1780s. According to the Dictionary of National Biography , "his historical paintings have not been well received" '. He was also commissioned to paint two religious works: a "Descent from the Cross" for the Roman Catholic Chapel of the Sardinian Embassy in London in 1780 and a fresco of the "Assumption" for the recently rebuilt St. Martin Outwich Church . 1797. The last painting soon fell into disrepair and fell apart during the building changes in 1827.

Samson Breaking his Bands (1784)

Rigaud was also a portrait painter, a group portrait from 1777 by the artists Francesco Bartolozzi , Agostino Carlini and Giovanni Battista Cipriani and another from 1782 showing Sir Joshua Reynolds , Sir William Chambers, and Joseph Wilton . He also portrayed a number of naval heroes, including Lord Nelson . According to the Dictionary of National Biography , his portraits tend to be strongly characteristically and boldly conceived, sometimes even exaggerated .

On February 10, 1784, the Royal Society officially accepted Rigaud - with "Samson Breaking his Bands" as a diploma thesis - in their circle. In 1795 he was appointed history painter Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden and a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Stockholm . But after 1800, according to the Dictionary of National Biography, his career as a painter seems to have waned. He translated Leonardo da Vinci's treatise on painting in 1802 and restored painted decorations such as those in the Old Royal Naval College at Greenwich and Montague House .

Rigaud married Mary Williams (* presumably 1740; † 1808) on July 21, 1774. They had three daughters and a son, Stephen Francis Dutilh Rigaud , who also became a painter. After the death of his wife, Rigaud lived with his son. He died of apoplexy on December 6, 1810 at Packington Hall, Warwickshire, and was buried in Packington.

literature

Lionel Henry Cust, Martin Myrone: John Francis Rigaud. In: George Smith, Leslie Stephen, Robert Blake, Christine S. Nicholls, Edgar T. Williams (Eds.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 48: Reilly-Robins. Smith & Elder et al. a., London 1896 ( Wikisource )

Web links

Commons : John Francis Rigaud - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k see literature Lionel Henry Cust and Martin Myrone: John Francis Rigaud in the Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) .
^ Algernon Graves: A Dictionary of Artists who have Exhibited Works in the Principal London Exhibitions of Oil Paintings from 1760 to 1880. George Bell and Sons, London 1884.
^ Algernon Graves: The Royal Academy: A Complete Dictionary of Contributors from its Foundations in 1769 to 1904. Henry Graves, London 1905, Volume 6.
^ ^A ^b A Brief Account of the Guildhall of the City of London. John Nichols and Son, London 1819, p. 39.
^ ^A ^b George Godwin, John Britton: St Martins Outwich: The Churches of London: A History and Description of the Ecclesiastical Edifices of the Metropolis. C. Tilt, London 1839, p. 337 ( [1] ).
↑ There is an account of the condition of the painting in James Peller Malcolm: Londinium Redivivium, or, an Ancient History and Modern Description of London. London 1807, Volume 4, p. 411.
↑ The name used by the DNB could have been apoplexia cerebri (a stroke )

personal data
SURNAME	Rigaud, John Francis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	English painter
DATE OF BIRTH	May 18, 1742
PLACE OF BIRTH	Turin
DATE OF DEATH	December 6, 1810
Place of death	Packington Hall , Warwickshire

[DNB-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k see literature Lionel Henry Cust and Martin Myrone: John Francis Rigaud in the Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) .

[2] Algernon Graves: A Dictionary of Artists who have Exhibited Works in the Principal London Exhibitions of Oil Paintings from 1760 to 1880. George Bell and Sons, London 1884.

[3] Algernon Graves: The Royal Academy: A Complete Dictionary of Contributors from its Foundations in 1769 to 1904. Henry Graves, London 1905, Volume 6.

[guild-4] A ^b A Brief Account of the Guildhall of the City of London. John Nichols and Son, London 1819, p. 39.

[godwin-5] A ^b George Godwin, John Britton: St Martins Outwich: The Churches of London: A History and Description of the Ecclesiastical Edifices of the Metropolis. C. Tilt, London 1839, p. 337 ( [1] ).

[6] There is an account of the condition of the painting in James Peller Malcolm: Londinium Redivivium, or, an Ancient History and Modern Description of London. London 1807, Volume 4, p. 411.

[7] The name used by the DNB could have been apoplexia cerebri (a stroke )