Charles Le Brun (1619 – 1690)

• Was a French painter, physiognomist, art theorist, and a director of several art schools of his time.
• The king Louis XIV declared him "the greatest French artist of all time".
• Born in Paris.
• Le Brun attracted the notice of Chancellor Séguier, who placed him at the age of eleven in the studio of Simon Vouet.
• He was also a pupil of François Perrier.
• At fifteen he received commissions from Cardinal Richelieu.
• In company Nicolas Poussin Le Brun started in Rome in 1642.
• In Rome he remained four years in the receipt of a pension due to the liberality of the chancellor.
• On his return to Paris in 1646, Le Brun found numerous patrons, of whom Superintendent Fouquet was the most important, for whom he painted a large portrait of Anne of Austria.
• Employed at Vaux-le-Vicomte, Le Brun ingratiated himself with Mazarin, then secretly pitting Colbert against Fouquet. 

• Nearly all his compositions have been reproduced by celebrated engravers.

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