French painter (1744–1814)
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 (Drawing School) in Aix. There he learned from the history painter and etcher Michel-François Dandré-Bardon. In 1767, Peyron moved to Paris at the age of twenty-three where he entered the atelier of Rococo painter Louis Jean François Lagrenée.
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.
He spent the years between 1775 and 1782 in Rome, with the Academy of France in Rome.
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.
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.
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