Mignard, Pierre (1)

(called the Roman), an eminent French painter, was born at Troyes in 1610. After receiving some instruction at home, his father placed him in the school of Jean Boucher at Bruges; subsequently under Vouet. In 1636 he went to Rome, to study after Raphael and Michael Angelo; there he remained twenty-two years, painting a number of fine Madonnas, and the portraits of popes Urban VIII and Alexander VII. One of the finest frescos in France, the cupola of the Val de Grace, was executed by Mignard. He also adorned the great hall at St. Cloud with mythological subjects. He died in 1695, after having received many distinctions and honors. — Lanzi's History of Painting (Lond. 1847, 3 volumes, 8vo), 1:476.