A member of a
Huguenot family, Rousseau was born at
Paris. He was noted as a
painter of ''
trompe-l'œil'', decorative landscapes and classic ruins, somewhat in the style of
Canaletto, but without his delicacy of touch; he appears also to have been influenced by
Nicolas Poussin and
Gaspard Dughet. While young Rousseau went to
Rome, where he spent some years in painting the ancient ruins, together with the surrounding landscapes. He thus formed his style, which was artificial and conventionally decorative. His colouring for the most part is unpleasing, partly owing to his violent treatment of skies with crude blues and orange, and his chiaroscuro usually is much exaggerated. On his return to Paris he soon became distinguished as a painter, and was employed to decorate walls at the
Hôtel Lambert and for
Louis XIV and
Philippe d'Orleans, at the
Château de Saint-Cloud,
Palace of Versailles,
Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye,
Château de Marly and other locations (all destroyed except two at Versailles). ==References==