Lionel Royer 1852 1926 Small Oil On Panel Which Represents A Classical Scene 23.5 X 13 Cm

Lionel Royer 1852 1926 Small Oil On Panel Which Represents a Classical Scene 23.5 a French painter. He is notably the author of the large scenes from the Life of Joan of Arc at the Bois-Chenu basilica in Domrémy, as well as the painting Vercingétorix throws his weapons at the feet of Julius Caesar. Enlisted as a volunteer at the age of under 18 in the Western Volunteers, he fought in the war of 1870 and notably participated in the Battle of Loigny on December 2, 1870 with General La Contrie. The latter, having noticed that he draws well, offered him a scholarship to the School of Fine Arts in Paris. He was a student of Alexandre Cabanel and William Bouguereau. He exhibited at the Salon from 1874 where he obtained a 3rd class medal in 1884 and a 2nd class medal in 1896. He obtained the second first Grand Prix de Rome in painting in 1882 and a bronze medal at the Universal Exhibition of 1903. He then became a renowned portrait painter and above all a history painter. His best-known works are Vercingétorix throws his weapons at the feet of Caesar (1899, Crozatier museum in Puy-en-Velay) and the decoration of the basilica of Domrémy dedicated to Joan of Arc. On the front page of illustrated newspaper supplements of the time, he was the commentator of his time, notably when he painted Dreyfus in his prison or Auguste Comte and his three muses. In memory of his participation in the Battle of Loigny, he gave two paintings to the new reconstructed church of this village, one representing the mass heard by the Volunteers of the West before leaving for the battle and the second depicting the night of agony of General de Sonis on the battlefield. In 1897, he donated to the Maine Historical and Archaeological Society – of which he was a member as was also Albert Maignan – ten watercolor models representing the Life of Joan of Arc, executed on the tenth and presented in 1893 at the glassworks competition of Orléans Cathedral, which he will not realize. “The battle scenes in Orléans in front of the Tourelles fortress or at Compiègne offer Royer, a history painter, the opportunity to give his measure to composing the tangle of bodies clad in breastplates and games of lances. To arouse emotion, allegory and the marvelous come to the aid of the story. (…) Lionel Royer relies on historical places, cited with precision. (…) Jeanne, forward and isolated, is the instrument which suggests to the political and religious sphere a possible reconciliation. (…) Through the evocative synthesis that he achieves and the feeling that he introduces into this cycle, the painter leaves the judgment to each person's ideas4. » — Chantal Bouchon, Revue historique et archéologique du Maine. Lionel Royer takes up this Johannine iconography (assisted by Charles Lorin of Chartres as master glassmaker) at the Domrémy basilica. In the glass roof of the Deposit of the Sword of Fierbois by an angel, the face of Xaintrailles bears the features of the architect Paul Sédille. “Although imbued with historicism in the characters with Raphaelesque and almost Ingresque reminiscences, these windows have a connotation of a call for revenge, in this place of Domrémy so full of symbol” — Chantal Bouchon, Revue historique et archéologique du Maine. He had two daughters and a son. He, engaged in the priesthood, was gassed during the First World War and died shortly after. Royer's two daughters left descendants, one in France, the other in Belgium. Lionel Royer is buried in Fontenay-aux-Roses.