Charles Monnet, also known as Charles Monet (10 January 1732 – after 1808), was a French painter and illustrator, best known for his illustrations used in books, including illustrations of the French Revolution.[1][2]
Life
Born in Paris, he studied under Jean II Restout. Although he never became a full academian, on July 27, 1765 he was made a provisional member of the Académie Royale,[3] where he won first prize for the painting, Nabucliodonosor faisant crever les yeux à Sédicias et faisant massacrer ses enfants. His works in the mid 1760s and 1770s included portraits and religious and mythical scenes. He became "one of the best vignettists of his time" and well-known for his work as an illustrator, notably for an edition of Fables de La Fontaine published by Fessard.[2]
He completed two large compositions above the doors of the dining room in the Petit Trianon at the Palace of Versailles, Boreas and Orithyia and Zéphir and Flore, completed in 1768.[4][5] His illustrations have been used for porcelain vases.[6][7] Painted in polychrome enamels by highly skilled artisans using a method of garniture, several were purchased for Versailles by King Louis XVI in 1781.[8]
He exhibited regularly at the Salon and ended his career as a drawing professor at the military École de Saint-Cyr.[13] He died in Paris, where he was living in 1808.[1][2]
Charles Eugéne, Prince de Lambesc in parade attire of Grand Écuyer de France, 1790
Toussaint Louverture Receiving a Letter from the First Consul, black ink and wash, 1802, Château de Malmaison. It is one of his 69 drawings illustrating the History of France under the Empire of Napoleon the Great.
References
^ ab"Charles Monnet". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved 2 August 2017.