Eldest of a family of seven children and brother of Hippolyte and Paul Flandrin, René Auguste Flandrin studied composition and painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon; he went to Paris in 1833 to study with Ingres. He refused to accompany his mentor to Rome and remained in Lyon, where he began to make a name for himself as an accomplished artist. He died young, at the age of only 38. René Auguste Flandrin's workshop attracted a number of proven students, including Louis Lamothe, Joseph Pagnon, Cabuchet and Chancel. Flandrin received a bronze medal in 1840. Work signed lower left.