Pierre Révoil

Pierre Henri Révoil (12 June 1776 – 19 March 1842) was a French painter in the troubadour style.

Biography He was born in Lyon. His father was a furrier. Although he was needed at home, his family allowed him to receive a proper education. He first studied art at the École centrale in Lyon, under the direction of Donat Nonnotte. In 1793, increasing poverty forced his family to send him to work with a manufacturer of patriotic wallpapers. Two years later, he managed to find a place at the studios of Jacques-Louis David at the École des Beaux-arts.

Initially, he found himself fascinated by Greek vase paintings and found some notoriety for his scenes of the Revolution. He also did many large-scale religious paintings, but soon focused almost exclusively on historical scenes from the Middle Ages, in what would later be somewhat derisively called the "Troubadour Style".

In 1802, when Napoleon, laid the foundation stones for the Place Bellecour, Révoil celebrated the occasion with a large allegorical drawing, "Napoleon Rebuilding the Town of Lyon", which became the basis for a painting exhibited at the Salon in 1804. and had just finished transferring it to Paris when the July Revolution broke out. This put an end to his career and he left for Provence again, never to return to Lyon. Years later, alone and penniless, he moved into a loft on the Rue de Seine in Paris, where he died.

His sister was the poet Louise Colet and his son, Henri Révoil, was a well-known architect who restored many churches and other public buildings.