Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) studied first under Vouet, but, attracted
by Poussin’s stronger personality, followed that master to Rome in
1642, and continued his studies under his guidance. When Le Brun
returned to Paris four years later, his reputation was already firmly
established. Patronised by Louis XIV.’s powerful minister, Colbert, he
was placed at the head of the newly founded Academy of Painting, and of
the Gobelins Manufactory, became First Painter to the King and “Prince”
of the French Academy in Rome; and was, in fact, given absolute power
in all matters concerning the fostering of the arts and art industries.
This despotic power explains how it was possible that Le Brun, who
notwithstanding his brilliant executive skill and extraordinary
facility never rose above the level of mediocrity, could impose his
uninspired personality upon every phase of French artistic activity of
his time.
His enormous canvases at the Louvre, which probably occupy more space
than has been allotted to any other painter, vainly endeavour to
conceal the lack of real emotion and of a central motif by theatrical
gestures and overcrowding. His masterpiece at the Louvre is _The Tent
of Darius_ (No. 511), which represents the family of Darius imploring
Alexander the Great for mercy. But even here one feels the absence of
dramatic inspiration and concentration. Less successful are the other
scenes from the history of Alexander: _The Passage of the Granicus_
(No. 509), _The Battle of Arbela_ (No. 510), _Alexander and Porus_
(No. 512), _Alexander entering Babylon_ (No. 513). The whole series
was painted between 1661 and 1668 for execution in tapestry and was
exhibited at the Salon in 1673, the year in which for the first time
an official catalogue was compiled. Besides many scriptural and
mythological subjects, and a few portraits from Le Bran’s brush, there
are at the Louvre his decorative paintings on the ceiling of the
Galerie d’Apollon in which the magnificent centre panel was added two
centuries later by Delacroix.