A drawing by Lépicié for the Metropolitan

30/12/24 - Acquisition - New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Much less well known than his contemporaries Chardin and Greuze, to whom he was compared, Nicolas-Bernard Lépicié certainly deserves a spotlight on his work. A painter of both history and genre scenes, he first studied engraving with his father François-Bernard Lépicié, then painting with Carle Van Loo, winning the second Prix de Rome in 1758 for his interpretation of the Miracle of the Prophet Elisha. His pleasure piece for the Royal Academy, completed in 1764, The Descent of William the Conqueror into England, did not please Diderot, who saw "neither harmony nor nobility" in it; he was then accepted with Achilles and the Centaur in 1769, became assistant professor in 1777, then professor in 1779, and counted Carle…