His father was the portrait painter, and his mother was the
miniaturist,
Marie Courtois. His brother,
Jean-Marc Nattier, also became a painter. Both brothers received their first art lessons from their father. From 1704 to 1709, he studied at the
Académie de France à Rome and, in 1712, was received as a member of the
Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture upon presentation of his painting,
Joseph sollicité par la femme de Putiphar. He became involved in the sexual scandals surrounding
Etienne-Benjamin Deschauffours, who was convicted for operating a
pederastic network and executed. Nattier was imprisoned in the
Bastille and his membership in the Académie was rescinded. Rather than suffer the fate of Deschauffour (whose corpse was publicly burned in the
Place de Grève), he committed suicide by cutting his throat with an
oyster knife. His professional belongings at the Acadėmie were returned to his family. == References ==