Dates | 1700 - 1777 |
Roles | Artist |
Nationality | French |
Initially trained by his father, a sculptor, Charles-Joseph Natoire moved to Paris at the age of seventeen to apprentice with the painter Louis Galloche. He then studied with Francois Le Moyne, from whom he inherited a taste for the female nude. Natoire's first known painting, Manoah Offering a Sacrifice to the Lord, won him the coveted
Natoire's popularity spread immediately upon his return from Rome, when he was commissioned by the Directeur-Général des Bâtiments to execute an extensive decorative scheme for the Château de La Chapelle-Godefroy. Natoire spent nine years working on the paintings for this château. From 1737 to 1739, Natoire, along with Carle Vanloo, Pierre-Charles Trémolièrs, and Francois Boucher, collaborated with the architect Germain Boffrand on the restoration of the Hôtel de Soubise in Paris, which now houses the French national archives. Natoire's eight paintings illustrating the Story of Psychedecorated the Hôtel's oval