Jean-Baptiste Isabey

Commander of the Légion d'Honneur

Jean-Baptiste Isabey was born in Nancy on April 11, 1767.

A pupil of Jacques-Louis David from the age of nineteen, he quickly won acclaim for the quality of his portraits, but above all for his miniatures, in which he became the undisputed specialist, turning this minor genre into high art.

The quality of his gouache-painted ivories and enamels, surrounded by precious frames or set in gold boxes, remains unsurpassed.

As a result, his longevity led to the most brilliant successes.

Queen Marie-Antoinette commissioned him, Empress Josephine and Napoleon became his patrons, the diplomats of the Congress of Vienna snapped him up, Charles X made him an Officer of the Cross of the Legion of Honor, the July monarchy gave him an important post, Napoleon III (no doubt remembering that Isabey had taught drawing and painting to his mother Queen Hortense when she was a teenager) awarded him the medal of Commander of the Legion of Honor.

The man nicknamed "painter to kings" or "portraitist of Europe" died in Paris on April 18, 1855. His tomb in Père-Lachaise (20th division)  modestly mentions "peintre en miniature" (miniature painter); beside him lies his son Eugène (1803-1886), a Romantic painter.

Jean-Baptiste Isabey had the honor of being commissioned by Napoleon to design the official Imperial Eagle, as well as the costumes for his coronation.