Bon Boullogne

Bon Boullogne (Paris, 1649 – Paris, 1717) was a French painter and the son of the painter Louis Boullogne, who was considered the most gifted of his children. He first learned from his father, and he is thought to have assisted him in the Grande Galerie of the Louvre. Through his father, who presented a half-length figure of St John by Bon to Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Controller General of Finances, he was sent to the French Academy in Rome as a king's pensioner.

In Rome he made copies of famous works, especially some Raphael frescoes in the Vatican Loggie, intended to be reproduced as Gobelins tapestries. A period spent in Lombardy completed his training. He studied Correggio, the Carracci, above all Annibale, as well as Guido Reni, Domenichino and Francesco Albani.

His painting, especially his mythological work, shows strong affinities with the Bolognese school, which was also represented in the royal collections. Northern art also influenced him, visible in his female portraits framed by plant motifs, a device later taken up by his pupil Robert Tournières. His works include Tobias Fighting his Father, Jephtha's Daughter and Zephyr and Flora, and the Louvre holds Hercules Fighting the Centaurs and The Death of Saint Ambrose. His pupils included Louis de Silvestre, Jean Raoux and Jean-Baptiste Santerre, among others.