Charles Le Brun (* February 24, 1619 in Paris; † February 12, 1690 Paris) was a French painter, architect, ornament drawer, court painter, director of the goblin manufacture, principal as well as chancellor of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. Numerous castles and palaces were decorated and painted by him. He even created the interior furnishing of Versailles, which makes him one of the most important artists under King Louis XIV.
Charles Le Brun grew up as a son of a simple peasant, who supposedly had Scottish roots. His father was the one, who taught him how to sculpt and paint. These skills helped him later on to become an artist.
With only 13 years of age he drew up a pen painting of his king, which earned him the attention of chancellor Ségnier, who decided to support this boy financially in order to get him the best education possible. His talent was sculpted by numerous people along his path, which helped him tremendously and subsequently brought him the position of the royal painter at an age of 19. He even had rich supporters, who made it possible for him to gain more knowledge in Rome.
With the right connections and publicity he managed to get a lot of deals, including government and clerical services thus earning him quality time in big palaces. In 1677 he accompanied the king on his Flanders expedition. The thing that fascinates me the most isn’t one of his baroque masterpieces that for instance shows Alexander the Great or the “Spiegelgalerie”. It is less shiny but even so much more deeper – Le Brun used to paint little illustrations of humans and how they would look like if they would’ve evolved from other animals like lions, eagles, horses, sheep or cats. At the time this sort of thinking was utterly dangerous given the fact that the church would punish every single one, who supported the fact that human beings evolved from animals. But he chose to bring these thoughts on paper and I personally find this artwork the most fascinating and creative. They may not have made an impression on our history but they are worth your time.
Copyright and Source: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Le_Brun und http://www.chalcographiedulouvre.com/html/2b/collection/coll1.htm
