(b Cologne, 8 Aug 1797; d Paris, 5 May 1890). In 1816 he entered the studio of Horace Vernet, who recommended he study under Anne-Louis Girodet. He spent four years with Girodet before studying briefly with Antoine-Jean Gros. He then travelled around Europe, especially Italy and Holland, for four years, initially working as drawing-master to an English family. He returned in 1824 to Paris where he made his d?but at the Salon. Though he had admired the Renaissance and Classical art he had seen abroad and never quite broke free from its influence, he nevertheless developed a predominantly Romantic style which matured during the 1830s to produce such works as Triumphal Entry of Clovis at Tours in 508 (1837; Versailles, Ch?teau). Most of Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury's works depict such dramatic historical subjects as trials and assassinations, painted in high focus with a wealth of period detail (e.g. Galileo before the Inquisition, 1632; 1847, Paris, Louvre). He also painted some biblical scenes and a number of works based on the lives of great painters of the past (e.g. Death of Titian, 1861; Antwerp, Kon. Mus. S. Kst.). In 1863 he painted four large canvases on historical themes for the Salle d'Audience of the Tribunal de Commerce in Paris and was appointed Director of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. However, the following year he resigned the post in order to become Director of the Acad?mie de France in Rome. In 1846 he was awarded the L?gion d'Honneur, and in 1850 he was elected a member of the Acad?mie des Beaux-Arts. Robert-Fleury continued to exhibit at the Salon until 1867.
Part of the Robert-Fleury family
See the Abbreviations for further details.
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