Random Inspiration: Lionel-Noël Royer (1852-1926)

Vercingétorix Throwing His Weapons at the Feet of Caesar

Lionel-Noël Royer, 1899

Lionel-Noël Royer was born December 25, 1852 in Chateau-du-Loir, France.  At age eighteen, after volunteering and serving in the Prussian War, Royer was offered tuition to study art by General Athanase de Charerette de la Contrie, who had noticed the young man's drawing skills.  Royer studied under Alexandre Cabanel and William Adolphe Bouguereau in Paris, and won several medals during his career while exhibiting with the Salon, including a third class medal in 1884, and a second class medal in 1896.  Like most Academics, his work ranged from portraiture to history and genre painting, the latter of which were often used as illustrations.  The 1899 painting of Vercingétorix Throwing His Weapons at the Feet of Julius Caesar is his most famous work.  Royer died June 31, 1926 in Neuilly, France.