Pierre Henri Révoil (1776–1842)

• Was a French painter in the troubadour style.
• He was born in Lyon.

• He first studied art at the École centrale in Lyon, under the direction of Donat Nonnotte.

• In 1795 he managed to find a place at the studios of Jacques-Louis David at the École des Beaux-arts.

• In 1802, when Napoleon, laid the foundation stones for the Place Bellecour, Révoil celebrated the occasion with a large allegorical drawing, "Napoleon Rebuilding the Town of Lyon".

• Three years later, he was named a Professor in the École des beaux-arts at the palais Saint-Pierre. 

• By 1811 he had amassed a huge collection of Medieval armor, chests, vases, wall hangings, paintings and manuscripts.

• This personal museum was used as a teaching tool for his students at the École. 

• When the First Empire fell, he rallied to the cause of the Restoration and destroyed his painting of Napoleon. 

• The following year, he married the eighteen-year-old daughter of a cousin and moved to Provence in 1818. 

• He returned to Lyon in 1823 and served as Director of the École until 1830. 

• Some of his best-known students there were Claude Bonnefond, Hippolyte Flandrin and Victor Orsel.

• In 1828, he donated his collection to the Louvre.

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