Born of a poor family in
Brussels (
Duchy of Brabant,
Southern Netherlands), during the reign of the Archduke
Albert and Archduchess
Isabella, Champaigne was a pupil of the landscape painter
Jacques Fouquier. After turning down opportunities to visit Italy, and to join
Rubens' studio, in 1621 he moved to Paris, where he worked as an independent master from about 1624. He met
Nicolas Poussin and painted a landscape for him. From 1625 to 1627 he assisted Nicolas Duchesne, whose daughter he would eventually marry, in decorating Queen
Marie de Medicis'
Palais du Luxembourg. According to Houbraken, Duchesne was angry at Champaigne for becoming more popular than he was at court, and so Champaigne returned to Brussels to live with his brother. It was only after he received news of Duchesne's death that he returned to marry his daughter, in 1628. '',
Louvre After the death of Duchesne, Champaigne succeeded him as Peintre de la Reine ("the Queen's Painter") with a salary of 1200
livres, and in 1629 took French nationality. He made several paintings for
Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, dating from 1638. He also drew several cartoons for tapestries. He also decorated the Carmelite Church of Faubourg Saint-Jacques, one of the favorite churches of the Queen Mother. This site was destroyed during the
French Revolution, but there are several paintings now preserved in museums, that were part of the original design, such as
The Presentation in the Temple in Dijon, the
Resurrection of Lazarus in Grenoble, and the
Assumption of the Virgin in the Louvre. He also worked for
Cardinal Richelieu, for whom he decorated the
Palais Cardinal, the dome of the
Sorbonne and other buildings. Champaigne was the only artist who was allowed to paint Richelieu enrobed as a cardinal, which he did eleven times. He was a founding member of the
Académie de peinture et de sculpture in 1648. Later in his life (from 1640 onwards), he came under the influence of
Jansenism. After his paralysed daughter was allegedly miraculously cured at the nunnery of
Port-Royal, he painted the celebrated but atypical picture
Ex-Voto de 1662, now in the
Louvre, which represents the artist's daughter with Mother-Superior
Agnès Arnauld.
Career depicted as
Saint Louis, –1648 Champaigne produced a large number of paintings, mainly religious works and portraits. Influenced by
Rubens at the beginning of his career, his style later became more austere. Philippe de Champaigne remains an exceptional painter thanks to the brilliance of the colors in his paintings and the stern strength of his compositions. He portrayed the entire French court, the French high nobility, royalty, high members of the church and the state, parliamentarians and architects, and other notable people. His portrait of the poet Vincent Voiture was created around 1649 as the frontispiece for Voiture's published
Works (published posthumously in 1650). The portrait is highly unusual in that Champaigne later reworked it as a portrait of a religious figure,
Saint Louis (King Louis IX), to enable Voiture's daughter to keep it with her when she entered a convent. In depicting their faces, he refused to show a transitory expression, instead capturing the psychological essence of the person. His works can be seen in public buildings, private collections, churches such as
Val-de-Grâce,
Sorbonne,
Saint Severin,
Saint-Merri,
Saint-Médard and in the
Basilica of Notre-Dame du Port in
Clermont-Ferrand. Champaigne was prominent enough in his time as to be mentioned in the 1897 play
Cyrano de Bergerac in a line by Ragueneau referencing Cyrano: "Truly, I should not look to find his portrait / By the grave hand of Philippe de Champaigne." His only son died young, after which his nephew
Jean Baptiste de Champaigne was brought from Brussels to be his main pupil. Others included
Nicolas de Plattemontagne. During his last period Champaigne painted mainly religious subjects and family members. He died in Paris in 1674. ==Gallery==