Jean-Paul Laurens

Jean-Paul Laurens prints bring the drama of history to life: popes and kings, inquisitors and martyrs, set in dark medieval halls. Laurens was one of the last great French academic painters and a leading history painter of the Third Republic. This collection gathers art prints of his history scenes, studies for his murals in the Panthéon and Paris City Hall, illustrations of Merovingian France, and portraits and drawings.

About Jean-Paul Laurens

Jean-Paul Laurens was born on 28 March 1838 in Fourquevaux, near Toulouse. He studied at the art school in Toulouse and then at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Léon Cogniet and Alexandre Bida. A committed republican and strongly anticlerical, he chose historical and religious subjects that carried a message against the abuse of royal and church power.

In 1869 he married Madeleine Villemsens; their sons Paul Albert and Jean-Pierre Laurens both became painters. The Third Republic gave him many major public commissions, including the life of Saint Genevieve in the Panthéon, the steel vault of the Paris City Hall, the ceiling of the Odéon Theatre and the Salle des Illustres in Toulouse's Capitole. He also illustrated Augustin Thierry's Récits des temps mérovingiens.

Laurens was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1891 and was a much-loved teacher at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Académie Julian, where he also taught women painters. He was a friend of Auguste Rodin and of the Gide family. He died in Paris on 23 March 1921.

Style and Subjects

Laurens painted history as theater. His scenes are highly realistic and carefully researched, with dramatic lighting and figures placed on a wide, often empty floor, as if on a stage. That empty space builds tension, as in The Excommunication of Robert the Pious, where the king and queen sit alone after their courtiers have fled.

His favorite subjects were medieval France, the popes and the Inquisition, and moments of tyranny and resistance. He also painted portraits, landscapes of his native Lauragais and of Yport in Normandy, and many drawings and studies for his large murals.

Famous Works

• The Death of Tiberius (1864), Musée Paul-Dupuy, Toulouse. An early Roman history scene.
• Pope Formosus and Stephen VI (The Cadaver Synod) (1870), Nantes Museum of Arts. The trial of a dead pope, one of history's strangest episodes.
• The Excommunication of Robert the Pious (1875), Musée d'Orsay, Paris. The king and queen left alone in an empty hall after being cast out by the Church.
• The Death of Saint Genevieve (1874–1885), Panthéon, Paris. His great mural cycle on the patron saint of Paris.
• La Délivrance des emmurés de Carcassonne (1879), Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Prisoners of the Inquisition freed from their walled-up cells.
• Torquemada, Grand Inquisitor (1886), Philadelphia Museum of Art. A study of the infamous Spanish inquisitor.
• The Hostages (1896), Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon. Two young captives waiting in a stone tower.

Decorating with Laurens Prints

Laurens's history paintings are dramatic, with deep reds, stone grays and strong shadows, and they suit a study, library or dining room with dark wood and rich colors. A large print makes a bold focal point above a fireplace or desk.

His mural studies and drawings work well grouped together in a hallway or reading room, and his quieter Normandy and Lauragais landscapes add calm to a bedroom or guest room.

FAQ

What art movement was Jean-Paul Laurens part of?

Laurens was one of the last major painters of French academic art, known above all for history painting. His dramatic, realistic style also has Romantic roots.

What is Jean-Paul Laurens's most famous painting?

The Excommunication of Robert the Pious (1875), in the Musée d'Orsay, is among his best-known works. His mural cycle on Saint Genevieve in the Panthéon is his most famous public commission.

Where can I see Laurens's original paintings?

The Musée d'Orsay and the Panthéon in Paris, the Musée des Augustins and the Capitole in Toulouse, and museums in Lyon, Nantes and Philadelphia hold his work.

How can you recognize a Jean-Paul Laurens painting?

Look for dramatic historical scenes with realistic detail, theatrical lighting and figures set apart by empty space, often in medieval or church settings.

Was Jean-Paul Laurens a teacher?

Yes. He taught at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Académie Julian in Paris, including classes for women painters. His many students included Edmund Dulac, Henri Martin and the American Thomas Hart Benton.

Related Artists

• Léon Cogniet — his teacher at the École des Beaux-Arts
• Paul Albert Laurens — his son, also a painter and teacher at the Académie Julian
• Jean-Léon Gérôme — fellow French academic history painter
• Alexandre Cabanel — leading academic painter of the same era
• Léon Bonnat — academic painter and fellow teacher of a generation of students