François Lemoyne

French painter (1688-1737)

François Lemoyne or François Le Moine (1688 – 4 June 1737) was a French rococo painter. He became First Painter to the King and worked with other artists of the era. However, the excess of work, court intrigues at Versailles, and the death of his wife drove him to madness. He committed suicide in Paris in 1737 by stabbing himself seven times, six months after finishing the ceiling painting "The Apotheosis of Hercules" in the Hercules Room in the Great Apartment of the King. With his death, the fashion of large allegorical ceilings disappeared.

Francois Lemoyne
circa 1730
Born1688
Died4 June 1737(1737-06-04) (aged 48–49)
NationalityFrench
EducationAcadémie de peinture et de sculpture
Known forPainting
Movementrococo

Works change

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References change

  • Cours sur la peinture du XVIIIe, 2006, Université Nancy 2
  • Xavier Salmon : François Lemoyne à Versailles, Gourcuff, Paris 2001, ISBN 2-909838-57-9