Alexandre Cabanel

Cabanel entered the École des Beaux-Arts in 1840 under François-Édouard Picot. He won the Prix de Rome in 1845 and resided at the Villa Medici until 1850.¹

A history and genre painter, he evolved towards romantic themes like 'Albaydé', inspired by Victor Hugo, while maintaining a foundation in traditional Academic art.¹

Cabanel was Napoleon III's preferred painter and, with Gérôme and Meissonier, was considered one of the three most successful artists of the Second Empire.¹

His 1863 masterpiece 'The Birth of Venus' embodied Academic ideals with graceful modeling and silky brushwork, and was purchased by Napoleon III for his personal collection.¹

As a Salon jury member in 1863, his refusal to allow Manet and others to exhibit led to the establishment of the famous Salon des Refusés by the French government.¹

As a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts from 1864 and a 17-time Salon jury member, he trained hundreds of pupils, shaping the character of Belle Époque painting.¹

Commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria, he painted 'Paradise Lost' for the Maximilianeum in Munich, earning the Order of Merit of Saint Michael of Bavaria.¹

His personal life was marked by tragedy; he lost his first wife and two children in 1867, and his second wife died just four years after their marriage in 1869.¹

While criticized by modernists like Zola and Huysmans, his style remained perennially popular with collectors for its perfected forms and classical subjects.¹

Despite being an Academic guardian, he defended Manet's 'Pertuiset' in 1881, stating that no one among the jury was capable of painting such a head in the open air.¹