\paperw4260 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 French painter and sculptor.\par
GΘr⌠me was born at Vesoul in 1824. Initiated into painting by his teacher Paul Delaroche, a journey
to Italy in 1843 had a great influence on his development. The colors of the Mediterranean stirred his interest in the study of nature, which became the main source of inspiration in his work together with the archeological ideas he gained from a visit t
o Pompeii. A synthesis of these two elements can be found in the painting of the \i Combat of the Gauls\i0 , now in the Louvre, which attracted the publicÆs attention at the Salon of 1847. Defined as a Neo-Greek painter, GΘr⌠me continued to look to ancie
nt art for inspiration, but also drew on more exotic sources, such as Muslim art and Egyptian culture: he went to Constantinople in 1853 and to Egypt in 1856.\par
Alongside the decoration of the palace of Prince Napoleon Bonaparte in a neo-Pompeian styl
e, executed in 1858, GΘr⌠me began to paint pictures of historical and religious subjects in exotic settings, the earliest of which was the picture of \i Thebes\i0 now in the Nantes museum. There are also hints of the religious spirit that permeates the
work of the followers of Ingres and that induced GΘr⌠me to seek inspiration in medieval art, as can be seen in the choice of a gold ground for his decoration of the chapel of St. JΘr⌠me in the Parisian church of St. Severin.\par
His studio, called the B
oεte α ThΘ (ôTea Caddyö) and inaugurated in 1853, rapidly became a meeting place for artists and writers.
