PICOT, François-Edouard

(b. 1786 Paris, d. 1868 Paris)

French painter and lithographer. He was a pupil of François-André Vincent and of Jacques-Louis David. He received the Second Grand Prix de Rome in 1811 and then continued his studies in Rome. On his return from Italy he received the commission to paint the Death of Sapphira (1819) for the church of St Séverin in Paris (in situ) and at the Salon of 1819 he exhibited Love and Psyche (1817; Paris, Louvre), which was admired for its graceful and naive figures and was bought by the Duc d’Orléans (later Louis-Philippe, King of France). At the Salon of 1827 Picot exhibited the Annunciation (La Rochelle Cathedral), a richly painted work that shows the influence of Raphael. Working within the Neo-classical style, he specialized in history and genre subjects and portraits and continued to show at the Salon until 1839.

Cupid and Psyche

This painting is the reduced version of the large (233 x 291 cm) original in the Louvre. This exquisite reduction was produced for the Duc de la Rochefoucauld d’Estissac, a discriminating collector of the restoration period.

This pivotal painting in the career of the artist firmly established Picot as a painter committed to the traditions of the classical school even though modified by an awareness of his contemporary romantics.

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Cybele Opposing Vesuvius

The present painting, Cybele opposing Vesuvius to protect the cities of Stabia, Herculaneum, Pompeii and Resina, is a preparatory sketch for the ceiling painting of the same subject in the Egyptian galleries of the Louvre.

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Odalisque

The present Odalisque was certainly a model for the small Leda and the Swan which Picot painted in 1829.

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