LAURENS, Jean-Paul - b. 1838 Fourquevaux, d. 1921 Paris

French painter, illustrator and teacher. At an early age he took lessons from a Piedmont painter, Pedoya, who had come to Fourquevaux to decorate the village church. Pedoya was a harsh teacher, and Laurens moved to the nearby École des Beaux-Arts in Toulouse. There he studied under Jean-Blaise Villemsens (1806-1859), the professor of sculpture, who took a great interest in him. In 1858 he won the Prix de la Ville de Toulouse, which paid for him to complete his studies in Paris. There he was a pupil first of Alexandre Bida (1823-1895) and then of Léon Cogniet. After a single unsuccessful attempt to win the Prix de Rome, he made his début at the Salon in 1863 with the Death of Cato (1863; Toulouse, Musée des Augustins), which already revealed his fascination for historical subjects.

His first success at the Salon was in 1872 with his history paintings - exciting compositions, faithful to detail and painted in rich colours. He executed numerous large murals, including those of the Paris Panthéon. He became professor at the Paris School of Art in 1885. In 1891 he joined the Académie as successor to Meissonier.

The Excommunication of Robert the Pious

Talented painters schooled on the old masters, such as Jean-Paul Laurens, who was of the same generation as the Impressionists, were interested in seeking out the less familiar moments in medieval history, since they would impress a jaded public with the force of novelty. One such moment was the excommunication of Robert the Pious. The details, and the textural, material qualities of the things we see, have been meticulously reproduced. It is like a snapshot of a single moment, with the church delegation leaving the royal couple staring despondently at the symbolically extinguished candle.