Hippolyte Flandrin | Neoclassical painter

Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin (1809-1864) was a French Neoclassical painter.

His most celebrated work, Jeune Homme Nu Assis au Bord de la Mer (1836) is held in the Louvre.

From an early age, Flandrin showed interest in the arts and a career as a painter.

He was the second of three sons, all of whom were painters.

Auguste, his older brother, spent most of his life as a professor at Lyon and later died there.

Paul, his younger brother, was a painter of portraits and religious imagery.

Hippolyte and Paul spent some time at Lyon, saving to leave for Paris in 1829 and study under Louis Hersent.

Eventually, they settled in the studio of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, who became not only their instructor but their friend for life.

In 1832, he won the Prix de Rome for his painting Recognition of Theseus by his Father.

This prestigious art scholarship meant that he was no longer limited by his poverty.

Career

The Prix de Rome allowed him to study for five years in Rome.

While there, he created several paintings, increasing his celebrity both in France and Italy.

His painting St. Clair Healing the Blind was created for the Nantes Cathedral, and years later, it also brought him a medal of the first class at the exhibition of 1855; this painting was destroyed in the fire which took place at Nantes Cathedral on 18 July 2020.

Jesus and the Little Children was given by the government to the town of Lisieux.

Dante and Virgil visiting the Envious Men struck with Blindness and Euripides writing his Tragedies are now in the Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon.

In 1853, Flandrin was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts.

On 4 April 1856, he assisted in the founding of the Œuvre des Écoles d'Orient, better known as L'Œuvre d'Orient; he was a member of its first general council on 25 April 1856.

Upon his return to Paris in 1856, Flandrin received a commission from the chapel of St John in the church of St Séverin.

As a result, his reputation became even more impressive, virtually guaranteeing him continuous employment for the rest of his life.

In addition to these works, Flandrin also painted a great number of portraits, including Portrait of Napoleon III, who was not very well received by the sitter.

However, he is much more known today for his monumental decorative paintings.

Personal life and death

In 1843 Flandrin married Aimée-Caroline Ancelot (1822-1882).

Their son Paul Hippolyte Flandrin (1856-1921) became a painter of sacred art, portraitist and decorator.

In 1863, Flandrin's failing health, made worse by his hard work and extended exposure to the damp and draughts of churches, induced him to visit Italy again, where he died of smallpox in Rome on 21 March 1864. | Source: © Wikipedia

Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin (Lione, 1809 - Roma, 1864) è stato un pittore Francese.

È considerato uno dei principali esponenti neoclassici della Scuola di Lione.

I suoi genitori erano Jean-Baptiste Flandrin e Jeanne Françoise Bibet.

Allievo dapprima di Pierre Révoil e in seguito di Ingres, la sua opera si situa nel solco del Neoclassicismo e della pittura accademica.

Vinse il Prix de Rome nel 1832 e trascorse due anni a Roma.

Tornato in Francia si stabilì a Parigi dedicandosi alla pittura storica e poi ai temi dell'arte religiosa, ma fu, sulla scia di Ingres, un grande e sensibilissimo ritrattista.

Nel 1843 sposò Aimée-Caroline Ancelot (1822-1882) che gli diede un figlio: Paul-Hippolyte Flandrin (1856-1921) pittore religioso, ritrattista e decoratore.

Anche due suoi fratelli, Auguste (1804-1842), e Paul Jean (1811-1902) furono pittori.

Eseguì affreschi nell'Abbazia di Saint-Germain-des-Prés e nella chiesa di San Vincenzo de' Paoli a Parigi.

Il suo quadro Giovane uomo seduto in riva al mare, dipinto a Roma nel 1836, è una delle sue opere più rinomate e si trova oggi al Museo del Louvre.

Nel 1853 fu eletto membro dell'Académie des beaux-arts.

Nel 1863 la sua salute divenne sempre più precaria e lo costrinse a trasferirsi di nuovo in Italia.

Ma a Roma contrasse il vaiolo e nel 1864 ne morì.

Fu sepolto a Parigi, nel cimitero di Père-Lachaise.

Il giudizio dell'epoca vide in Flandrin un seguace spiritualista di Ingres, colui che trasformò l'ideale pagano del Maestro in ideale cristiano: «... più preoccupato dell'idealizzazione del pensiero che dell'idealizzazione della forma, più innamorato del senso che della lettera, più preso dal sentimento psicologico che dal senso materiale, diede a vaghe ispirazioni mistiche un'anima cristiana, la cui legge estetica si trova nei più profondi e segreti abissi della loro fede».