Jean Baptiste Van Loo (1684–1745)

• Was a French subject and portrait painter.
• He was born in Aix-en-Provence.
• He was instructed in art by his father Louis-Abraham van Loo, son of Jacob van Loo.
• He was patronized by the prince of Carignan, who sent him to Rome, where he studied under Benedetto Luti.
• He was much employed painting for churches in Rome.
• At Turin he painted Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy and several members of his court.
• Then, moving to Paris, where he was elected a member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture.
• In 1737 he went to England, where he attracted attention by his portrait of Colley Cibber and of Owen McSwiny.
• He did not practise long in England, because of his failing health; he retired to Paris in 1742.
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