01 Paintings, of The amorous game, Part 8 – With Footnotes

Ferdinand Victor Léon Roybet (12 April 1840, Uzès – 11 April 1920, Paris) was a French painter and engraver; best known for his historical and costume genre scenes. His father was the owner of a café and a liqueur manufacturer who moved his family to Lyon in 1846. He began by studying engraving at the École nationale des beaux-arts de Lyon. After his father’s death in 1863, he took his new wife and baby to Paris, where he studied with Jean-Georges Vibert and copied the Old Masters at the Louvre.

In 1865, after some financial hardships, he presented two paintings at the Salon and, the following year, achieved success when one of his works was purchased by Mathilde Bonaparte for 5,000 francs. He then decided to concentrate on costumed figures, mostly from the 18th century, and was awarded a contract for three canvases per month at an annual salary of 25,000 francs.

He was named a knight in the Legion of Honour in 1893 and many wealthy people among his clients; notably Cornelius Vanderbilt, who paid 100,000 francs for one of his works at the Palais de l’Industrie in 1893. He also painted many notable people in period costume.

Toward the end of his life, he turned to religious subjects, producing a tableau of 22 paintings depicting the Passion of Christ. After his death, in 1921, they were the subject of a special showing at the Salon. Six years later, the Musée Roybet Fould was established in Courbevoie by Consuelo Fould, who owned a large number of Roybet’s paintings. More on Ferdinand Victor Léon Roybet

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