Louis Léopold Robert

Nationality: Swiss

1794 - 1835

Showing talent at a young age, Robert left his home in the Principality of Neuchâtel (today a part of Switzerland) for Paris at age 16 to study painting under Jacques-Louis David and pursue a career as an engraver. Robert was unable to compete for the Prix de Rome because of his nationality, so a benefactor subsidized his journey to Italy in exchange for paintings. Apart from a brief return to Paris in 1831, he remained in Italy for the rest of his life, painting the interiors of churches and convents and, beginning in 1820, brigands and genre scenes taken from popular life.

Place of Birth: Les Eplatures, Neuchâtel
Place of Death: Venice

Text written and researched by Michelle Bird National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.