Pierre Paul Prud'hon

French painter. Born in Cluny as the son of a large family of stonemasons. He received a scholarship to study at the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Dijon in 1774. In 1780 he went to Paris to become an engraver, but was awarded the Prix de Rome by Burgundy and travelled to Italy in 1784, where he became friends with Canova and was influenced by Raphael and Correggio. He returned to Paris in 1789 and worked energetically as a member of the Jacobins, while also producing sketches for prints and portraits. He did not join the neoclassicism that was flourishing at the time, and produced paintings that were characterized by female figures exuding a dreamy and mysterious atmosphere. David called him "today's Boucher." He was highly valued by Napoleon's two empresses and also served as court painter. His representative works include "Portrait of Josephine" (1805), "The Abduction of Psyche" (1808), as well as "The God of Justice and Holy Vengeance Pursuing Crime" and "Venus and Adonis," which were exhibited at the Salon of 1808 and received the Legion of Honor. He was also one of the first painters to use bitum, a dark brown paint made from natural asphalt that requires a thinner, but as a result, many of his works have cracks and discoloration on the canvas.

[Kiyoo Uemura]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

フランスの画家。石工の大家族の息子としてクリュニーに生まれる。奨学金を得て1774年ディジョンの美術アカデミーに学ぶ。1780年パリに出て彫版師となるが、ブルゴーニュ地方からローマ賞を与えられて1784年イタリアに赴き、カノーバと親交を結び、ラファエッロ、コレッジョらの影響を受けた。1789年パリに戻り、ジャコバン党員として精力的に活動しながら、版画の下絵や肖像画を描いた。彼は当時隆盛を誇った新古典主義にはくみせず、とくに夢みるような神秘的な雰囲気を漂わせる女性像を特徴とする絵画を制作、ダビッドは彼を「今日のブーシェ」とよんだ。ナポレオンの2人の皇后に重用され、また宮廷画家も務める。代表作は『ジョゼフィーヌの肖像』（1805）、『プシュケーの誘拐』（1808）をはじめ、1808年のサロンに出品されレジオン・ドヌール勲章を受けた『罪悪を追う正義と聖なる復讐(ふくしゅう)の神』、『ビーナスとアドニス』など。また彼は天然アスファルトからつくられた溶き油を必要とする濃褐色の絵の具ビチュームを初めて使用した画家の1人だが、そのため彼の作品の多くは画面に亀裂(きれつ)を生じ、変色をきたしている。

［上村清雄］

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