François Pascal Simon Gérard

Officer of the Légion d'Honneur, Baron of the Empire

François Pascal Simon Gérard was born in Rome on May 4, 1770, to Cardinal de Bernis's steward father and an Italian mother.

At the age of twelve, he was admitted to the Pension du Roi in Paris, then studied in Augustin Pajou's studio, before joining Jacques-Louis David's two years later.

His beginnings in the midst of the Revolution were difficult: he failed the competition for the Prix de Rome in 1789, returned to Italy the following year on the death of his father, then returned to France in 1791 to avoid being placed on the list of émigrés. David came to his aid in 1793, when he was appointed a juror to the Revolutionary Tribunal, a position he exercised as little as possible.

His friend, the miniaturist Isabey, then showed his generosity by commissioning two paintings: a Bélisaire in 1795 and his full-length portrait the following year. These two commissions enabled him to complete his successful Psyché et l'Amour in 1797.

Finally, in 1799, his portrait of Letizia Ramolino, Madame Mère, won him recognition. In fact, under the Empire, he became the court's portraitist: Impress Joséphine, Joseph Bonaparte, Joachim and Caroline Murat, Madame de Visconti, Madame Tallien, the Countess Régnault, Madame Récamier, Hortense de Beauharnais, Talleyrand, Corvisart, Impress Marie-Louise and the King of Rome, and of course several paintings of the Emperor, the most famous of which is an 1808 portrait.

His talent was rewarded when Napoleon I personally awarded him the Légion d'Honneur on October 22, 1808, at the Salon du Louvre.

His talents as a portraitist did not, however, lead him to disdain history paintings, as demonstrated by his Battle of Austerlitz of 1810, remarkably treated in the neo-classical style.

The charm of his manners and conversation explains why his salon was as well-frequented as his studio; he was then at his artistic and social peak.

In 1817, during the Restoration, he executed a highly successful Entrée d'Henri IV à Paris in honor of the Bourbons.

Showered with honors (promoted Officer of the Legion of Honor, created Baron in 1819, appointed First Painter to the King) and functions (member of the Institute, attached to the Louvre, deputy for Bayeux), he watched helplessly as his art declined and Romanticism took hold.

He died on January 11, 1837 in his Paris home on rue de la Municipalité, and was buried in the Montparnasse cemetery (1st division) .