Jean-Baptiste van Loo

1684 – 1745

French painter. He was instructed in art by his father Louis-Abraham van Loo, son of Jacob van Loo. Having at an early age executed several pictures for the decoration of the church and public buildings at Aix, he was employed on similar work at Toulon, which he was obliged to leave during the siege of 1707. He was patronized by the prince of Carignan, who sent him to Rome, where he studied under Benedetto Luti. Here he received commissions from churches, and in particular he executed a greatly praised Scourging of Christ for Santa Maria in Monticelli. At Turin he painted Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy and several members of his court. Then, moving to Paris, where he was elected a member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, he executed various altarpieces and restored the works of Francesco Primaticcio at Fontainebleau. In 1737 he went to England, where he attracted attention by his portrait of Colley Cibber and of Owen McSwiny, the theatrical manager; the latter, like many other of van Loo's works, was engraved in mezzotint by John Faber. He also painted Sir Robert Walpole, and the prince and princess of Wales. He did not, however, stay long in England, for his health failing he retired to Paris in 1742, and afterwards to Aix, where he died on 19 December 1745. Two of his sons were notable painters, Louis-Michel van Loo and Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo (1719-1795).

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