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Simon Vouet

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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SIMON VOUET (1590-1649), French painter, was born at Paris on the 9th of January 1590. He passed many years in Italy, where he married, and established himself at Rome, enjoying there a high reputation as a portrait painter. Louis XIII. recalled him to France and lodged him in the Louvre with the title of First Painter to the Crown. All royal work for the palaces of the Louvre and the Luxembourg was placed in his hands; the king became his pupil; he formed a large school, and renewed the traditions of that of Fontainebleau. Among his scholars was the famous Le Brun. Vouet was an exceedingly skilful painter, especially in decoration, and executed important works of this class for Cardinal Richelieu (Rueil and Palais Royal) and other great nobles. His better easel pictures bear a curious resemblance to those of Sassoferrato. Almost everything he did was engraved by his sons-in-law Tortebat and Dorigny.