Not to be confused with the French caricaturist
Pierre Péron.
Jean-François Pierre Peyron (15 December 1744 – 20 January 1814) was a French
Neoclassical painter, printmaker, and art collector.
Biography
Peyron was born on 15 December 1744 in
Aix-en-Provence in Southern France to a wealthy family. He studied law until the death of his father in 1765, at which point Peyron enrolled in the
École de dessin [
fr] (Drawing School) in Aix. There he learned from the history painter and etcher
Michel-François Dandré-Bardon.[1] In 1767, Peyron moved to Paris at the age of twenty-three where he entered the
atelier of
Rococo painter
Louis Jean François Lagrenée.[2]
He was one of the first to re-apply the Classic principles of composition, in the manner of
Poussin, while the prevailing fashion was in favour of
Rococo.
In 1773, the Académie royale de peinture announced that the theme for the next Grand Prix de Rome would be the death of
Seneca as described by
Tacitus, a favorite topic for French painters. Of the six artists approved to compete, first prize was awarded to Peyron for a now lost painting, but for which an engraving survives.[3]
On his return to Paris, Peyron found that the career of his rival,
Jacques-Louis David, had taken its rise and had completely eclipsed his own, relegating it to a minor role in the history of art – which became evident in the exhibitions at the
Salon of Paris between 1785 and 1787. Following his fall from grace, Peyron was appointed inspector general of the
Gobelins tapestry factory from 1786 to 1792.[4]
David would later pay homage to Peyron at the time of his funeral, stating: "He had opened my eyes". Peyron died in Paris in 1814, aged 69.
Paul-Émile, conqueror of Perseus, last king of the Macedonians (1804) – Exhibited at the Salon of 1804, then later deposited at the
Museum of Fine Arts in
Caen before being destroyed during
World War II. A painted sketch from 1802 can still be found in Budapest.[7]