Fleury François Richard (1777-1852)

• Was a French painter of the École de Lyon.
• He was the son of a magistrate, Fleury François Richard. 

• He studied at the collège de l'Oratoire in Lyon then at the école de Dessin under Alexis Grognard.

• In 1796 he joined the Paris studio of Jacques-Louis David.

• His first paintings had major success and he mingled with the Paris intelligentsia, among whom the Troubador style was highly favoured. 

• He became the favourite painter of empress Joséphine de Beauharnais, who bought many of his paintings.

• In 1808 he set up his own studio at the palais Saint-Pierre at Lyon.

• He was initiated into the Scottish Rite Masonic Lodge of Isis in 1809.

• In 1814 married a banker's daughter, Blanche Menut.

• He was made a knight of the Légion d'honneur in 1815. 

• Seeking inspiration, he visited Geneva, Milan, Turin and the Dauphiné.

• He served as a professor at the École des beaux-arts de Lyon from 1818 to 1823.

• Fleury-Richard and his friend Pierre Révoil were precursors of the Troubador style. 

• In 1851 he set himself up at Écully, devoting himself to writing.

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