François Pascal Simon, Baron Gérard

Francois Gérard
Francois Gérard aged 54, by Sir Thomas Lawrence
Born	François Pascal Simon Gérard (1770-03-12)12 March 1770 Rome, Italy
Died	11 January 1837(1837-01-11) (aged 66) Paris, France
Nationality	French
Education	Pajou, Brenet, David
Known for	painting, engraving

François Pascal Simon, Baron Gérard (4 May 1770 – 11 January 1837), was a French painter born in Rome, where his father occupied a post in the house of the French ambassador. His mother was Italian. As a baron of the Empire, he is sometimes referred to as Baron Gérard.

François Gérard was born in Rome, on 4 Mау 1770, to J. S. Gérard and Cleria Matteï. At the age of twelve Gérard obtained admission into the Pension du Roi in Paris. From the Pension he passed to the studio of the sculptor Augustin Pajou which he left at the end of two years for that of the history painter Nicolas-Guy Brenet, whom he quit almost immediately to place himself under Jacques-Louis David.

In 1789 he competed for the Prix de Rome, which was carried off by his comrade Girodet. In the following year (1790) he again presented himself, but the death of his father prevented the completion of his work, and obliged him to accompany his mother to Rome. In 1791 he returned to Paris; but his poverty was so great that he was forced to forgo his studies in favor of employment which should bring in immediate profit. David at once availed himself of his help, and one of that master's most celebrated portraits, of Louis-Michel Le Pelletier de St Fargeau may owe much to the hand of Gérard. This painting was executed early in 1793, the year in which Gérard, at the request of David, was named a member of the revolutionary tribunal, from the fatal decisions of which he, however, invariably absented himself.

In 1794 he obtained the first prize in a competition, the subject of which was The Tenth of August, that is, the storming of the Tuileries Palace. Further stimulated by the successes of his rival and friend Girodet in the Salons of 1793 and 1794, Gérard (nobly aided by Jean-Baptiste Isabey, the miniaturist, produced in 1795 his famous Bélisaire. In 1796 a portrait of his generous friend (conserved today in the Louvre) obtained undisputed success, and the money received from Isabey for these two works enabled Gérard to execute in 1797 his Psyche et l'Amour (illustration). At last, in 1799, his portrait of Madame Mère established his position as one of the first portrait-painters of the day.