Piat Joseph Sauvage (1744–1818)

• Was a painter, sculptor, printmaker and academic lecturer from the Southern Netherlands.
• Sauvage was born in Tournai.

• He worked in his father's factory until the age of 17, while completing his study at the school of drawing in Tournai.

• He went on to improve his artistic education at the Antwerp Academy under the direction of Martin Joseph Geeraerts, an expert in grisaille and history paintings.

• He left for France where he joined the Académie de Saint-Luc in Paris.
• In 1774 he made nine paintings including grisaille bas-reliefs representing The Death of Germanicus.
• As his fame grew, he was appointed the court painter of the Prince de Condé, and later of the French king Louis XVI and the Royal Family.

• His appointment as royal artist did not keep him from joining the popular side of the French Revolution.

• From 1804 to 1807, he painted porcelain figurines for the famous Sèvres porcelain factory. 

• In 1808 he returned to Tournai to become the director of the local Academy of Drawing.

• He often used precious materials such as marble, porcelain and ivory as the support for his paintings.

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