Simon Julien

1735 Toulon – 1800 Paris

Simon Julien first studied in Toulon and then under Dandré-Bardon in Marseille. From 1758 he attended the Paris Academy, where he studied under Carle van Loo, and was awarded the coveted Prix de Rome just two years later. Little is known about Julien’s stay in Rome, which began in 1763 and lasted several years. As a pensionnaire of the Académie de France, he seemingly endeavoured to emulate the style of its then director, Charles Joseph Natoire. After his return to France, Julien distinguished himself at the Paris Salon in the 1780s with history paintings and allegorical and mythological compositions.