1754 -1829 · Paris, Rome, Revolution and Empire

Sculptural bodies, political allegories and ancient stories make Jean-Baptiste Regnault a major figure in French neoclassicism.

Jean-Baptiste Regnault was born in Paris in 1754. After a youth partly spent at sea, he studied with Jean Bardin and followed his master to Rome. Winner of the Prix de Rome in 1776, he delved deeper into Antiquity, Raphael and the great Italian decorations. Received at the Royal Academy in 1783, he became one of Jacques-Louis David's main rivals. His neoclassicism gives a central place to the beautiful body, the solid line and the balance of groups. In Socrates tearing Alcibiades from the bosom of Volupté, morality takes the form of a physical conflict between wisdom, desire and youth. In Socrates tearing Alcibiades from the bosom of Volupté, morality takes the form of a physical conflict between wisdom, desire and youth. In Socrates tearing Alcibiades from the bosom of Volupté, morality takes the form of a physical conflict between wisdom, desire and youth. In Socrates tearing Alcibiades from the bosom of Volupté, morality takes the form of a physical conflict between wisdom, desire and youth. In Socrates tearing Alcibiades from the bosom of Volupté, morality takes the form of a physical conflict between wisdom, desire and youth. In Socrates tearing Alcibiades from the b bodies make sacrifice immediately noticeable. The Revolution transforms its language. Commissioned by the Republic and exhibited at the Salon of 1795, Liberty or Death directly opposes two destinies: the heroic elevation towards Liberty and the fall towards Death. The allegory, the naked bodies and the monumental scale give a political idea the force of an apparition. Regnault then crosses the Directory, the Consulate and the Empire, adapting his art to official commissions, portraits and mythological subjects. An influential teacher, he trained numerous students and maintained an important workshop. Aeneas then crossed the Directory, the Consulate and the Empire, adapting his art to official commissions, portraits and mythological subjects. An influential teacher, he trained numerous students and maintained an important workshop. Aeneas, offering gifts to King Latinus, showed his taste for clear architecture, eloquent gestures and stories where each figure has a function. Died in Paris in 1829, Regnault embodies a neoclassicism more sensual and theatrical than that of David, capable of linking ancient ideal, religion and contemporary politics. The "Jean-Baptiste Regnault" selection notably compares Liberty or Death and Socrates tearing Alcibiades from the bosom of Voluptuousness. His reading favors figures.

Regnault gives an anatomy to ideas: virtue, desire, freedom or mourning become bodies that rise, resist, fall and take all space with them.