Jean-Leon
Jerome

Was a student of Paul Delaroche and Charles Gleyre. Fame came to him after the creation of the painting the cockfight (1847, Paris, Luxembourg Palace). With their success, the artist was obliged not only artistic merit made them work much by stories — episodes from antique mythology and history with elements of eroticism. Among the numerous paintings of Gerome Greek interior, the Age of Augustus (1855), Alcibiades and Aspasia, Conde for the reception of Louis XIV (new York, Metropolitan Museum). He owns several marble painted statues of naked women, which enjoyed great success at the Salons of the second half of the 19th century Jerome Died in Paris, 10 Jan 1904.

The son of a goldsmith, elementary art education in his native city and, having arrived in 1841 in Paris, apprenticed to P. Delaroche, with whom, in 1844, went to Italy, where diligently studied drawing and painting from nature. Back in Paris, worked for some time under the leadership of Glaura, and then again at Delaroche.

The first piece drew upon him General attention, was exhibited at the salon of 1847 painting: "Young Greeks amuse cock fight" (located in the Luxembourg Museum). Behind her followed: "Anacreon, causing the dance to Bacchus and Cupid" (1848) and "Greek lupanar" (1851) — a scene in which already clearly expressed one of the main features of the multilateral talent of the painter, namely its ability to mitigate the seduction plot strict processing forms and as it is cold to ensure that it is able to excite the viewer's sensuality.

A similar ambiguous picture of Jerome appeared in the cabin in 1853 under the innocent title "the Idyll". All of these play Greek life, thanks to the originality of her perspective on the artist and the skill of his technique, made him the leader of a special group among French painters of the group of the so-called "Geogracom".

Written in 1855 painting "the Age of Augustus", with figures in natural size, can only be regarded as a failed excursion into the region of historical painting in the strict sense of the word. Much greater success had the "Russian soldiers peselnik" — a scene written by sketches made during a visit Jerome, in 1854, through Russia to Moldavia.

Better yet his highly dramatic "Duel after the masquerade" (1857 appeared after the artist's visit to the banks of the Nile "Egyptian recruits, escorted by Albanian soldiers in the desert" (1861).

"Thumbs down" (Pollice Verso), 1872

Sharing in this way its activities between East, West and classical antiquity, Jerome reaped, however, the most abundant laurels in the field of the latter. From it are drawn the subjects for his famous paintings: "the Murder of Caesar", "King Candaul shows his beautiful wife to Gyges", "Gladiators in the circus greeted the Emperor Vitellius" (Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant), "phryne before the Areopagus" (1861), "Augur," "Cleopatra and Caesar" and some others.

Increasing these works his already loud acclaim, Jerome asked for some time to the life of the modern East and wrote of the work: "Transportation of the prisoner on the Nile" (1863), "Turkish butcher in Jerusalem", "Almea", "Working at prayer" (1865), "the Tower of the mosque al-Hassanein, put on her heads of executed beys" (1866) and "Arnauts playing chess" (1867); sometimes it is taken also for themes from French history, what, for example, "Louis XIV and Moliere" (1863), "the Reception of the Siamese Embassy of Napoleon" (1865) and "December 7, 1815" (the death of Marshal MacDonald).

Since the 1870-ies, the work of Jerome noticeably weaker, so that in the last decades of the XIX century, you can specify only three of his works, worthy of them previously acquired reputations: "Rex Tibicen" (Frederick the Great, 1874), the "Gray Eminence" (1874) and "Muslim monk at the door of the mosque" (1876).

From all the genres famous artist strikes a graceful and conscientious transfer climate, terrain, national types, and the smallest particulars of domestic situation, the study of his repeated visits to Egypt and Palestine; at the same time, in his paintings of classical antiquity can be seen not so much the Greeks and Romans, how many people of modern times, the French and the French playmaker naughty scenes in ancient costumes and among antique accessories.

Drawing Jerome — perfectly-correct and worked out all the details; letter — careful, do not dry; flavor — not brilliant, somewhat gray, but very harmonious, especially masterful artist lighting. In the last decades of the nineteenth century, he tried his hand also in sculpture. Visitors of the Paris world exhibition of 1878 stopped its attention on two groups fashioned them: "Gladiator" and "Anacreon with Bacchus and Cupid."