Jean-Laurent Mosnier

Jean -Laurent Mosnier [ mo: ɲe ] (* 1743 or 1744 in Paris, † April 10, 1808 in Saint Petersburg ) was a French court painter of King Louis XVI. and Queen Marie- Antoinette. After the French Revolution, he worked in London, Berlin and St. Petersburg.

Life and work

As a student at the Académie de Saint -Luc in Paris, he trained as a miniature painter. In 1776 he was appointed court painter to Queen Marie - Antoinette.

After the outbreak of the French Revolution Mosnier fled to London in 1790. His English portraits show some concessions to the then current English taste in order to compete with the portraits of the English artists can. From London Mosnier went to Hamburg, where he remained four years, and in 1801 to St. Petersburg, a popular destination emigre French artist.

A potential competitor, Élisabeth Vigée -Lebrun (also a French emigrant ), left the city later this year and Mosnier came by it in an influential position. In 1802 he became a member of the Academy of St. Petersburg, where he received in 1806 a position as a professor. He portrayed many members of the Russian nobility and the imperial family (eg, czarina Elisabeth Alexeyevna, wife of Alexander I ).

Jean -Laurent Mosnier was a versatile and prolific portrait painter, who was able to change his style in accordance with the geographical conditions, and as a trained miniaturist achieved a good effect in his detailed large portraits with his skills.