Jean-Baptiste Descamps

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Jean-Baptiste Descamps (born 1714 in Dunkirk; died 1791) was a French writer and painter of village scenes.

Descamps lived principally at Paris, till an accidental circumstance fixed him at Rouen, in 1740. On his way to England, he here formed an acquaintance with M. de Cideville, the friend of Voltaire, who, anxious for the honor of his native town, persuaded the young artist to select it as the place of his future residence.

[edit] Literary works

  • La Vie des Peintres Flamands (1753)
  • Le Voyage Pittoresque (1769)

Through these works he renewed the interest in the Old Flemish masters, especially Hans Memling and Jan van Eyck. They also had the adverse effect of being used by the French revolutionary army, after their invasion of Flanders in 1790, to requisition the best paintings for transport to the Musée Central des Arts in the Louvre, Paris.

This article is partially based on the public domain text Account Of A Tour In Normandy - Volume I.

[edit] External links

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