Nicolas-Didier Boguet

1755 Chantilly/Oise - 1839 Rome

Nicolas-Didier Boguet, a painter, draughtsman and printmaker from Chantilly, enrolled in 1777 at the Académie Royale in Paris, where he concentrated on history painting. Having successfully completed his studies, Boguet soon received a number of important commissions, including one from Cardinal de Bernis, Louis XVI’s ambassador in Rome, which took him to the eternal city. He originally planned to stay in Rome for six months in 1783 but ended up remaining there for the rest of his life. He became a member of the city’s Accademia di San Luca and of the Academy in Florence and maintained numerous contacts with Italian, German and French classicists. He was much in demand in Italy and - despite the focus in his early training on historical painting - developed a great passion for landscapes, his works being held in great esteem inter alia by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Stendhal.