Prud'hon, Pierre-Paul

Prud'hon, Pierre-Paul

(born April 4, 1758, Cluny, France—died Feb. 16, 1823, Paris) French painter. During his years in Rome (1784–88), the works of Correggio inspired him to introduce a softer effect into French painting, then dominated by the austere style of Jacques-Louis David. He made drawings for engravers before he came to the attention of Napoleon. His portrait of the empress Joséphine (1805) exhibits the seductive and mysterious quality with which he invested his portraits of women. He achieved fame and received the Legion of Honor for his allegorical Crime Pursued by Divine Vengeance and Justice (1808). His elegant style served as a bridge from late 18th-century Neoclassicism to 19th-century Romanticism.