François Gérard; Portrait de Juliette Récamier 05 Paintings, PORTRAIT OF A LADY, Madame Récamier, with Footnotes. #55

François Pascal Simon, Baron Gérard (4 May 1770 – 11 January 1837), was a French painter born in Rome. At the age of twelve Gérard obtained admission into the Pension du Roi in Paris. From the Pension he passed to the studio of the sculptor Augustin Pajou which he left at the end of two years for that of the history painter Nicolas-Guy Brenet, whom he quit almost immediately to place himself under Jacques-Louis David.

In 1794 he obtained first prize in a competition. Further stimulated by the successes of his rival and friend Girodet in the Salons of 1793 and 1794. Gérard produced in 1795 his famous Bélisaire. In 1796 a portrait of his generous friend obtained undisputed success. In 1799, his portrait of Madame Mère established his position as one of the first portrait-painters of the day.

In 1808 as many as eight, and in 1810 no less than fourteen, portraits by him, were exhibited at the Salon, and these figures afford only an indication of the enormous numbers which he executed yearly; all the leading figures of the Empire and of the Bourbon Restoration, all the most celebrated men and women of Europe, sat for Gérard. Rich and famous, Gérard was stung by remorse for earlier ambitions abandoned. In 1817 he did homage to the returned Louis XVIII. After this date Gérard declined, watching with impotent grief the progress of the Romantic school.

Loaded with honors – baron of the Empire in 1809, member of the Institut on 7 March 1812, officer of the légion d’honneur, first painter to the king – he worked on, sad and discouraged; the revolution of 1830 added to his disquiet; and on 11 January 1837, after three days of fever, he died. More on Baron Gérard

Jeanne Françoise Julie Adélaïde Récamier (4 December 1777 – 11 May 1849) (Juliette), was a French socialite, whose salon drew Parisians from the leading literary and political circles of the early 19th century. As an icon of neoclassicism, Récamier cultivated a public persona of herself as a great beauty and her fame quickly spread across Europe. She befriended many intellectuals, sat for the finest artists of the age.

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