Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres Trivia Questions

Ingres idolized Raphael, considering him the pinnacle of art. He made numerous copies of Raphael's paintings and his own style was heavily influenced by the Renaissance master.

They were polar opposites—Ingres championed line and classicism, Delacroix color and Romanticism—but respected each other.

Ingres was born in Montauban, a city in southwestern France, on August 29, 1780. He later moved to Paris to study under Jacques-Louis David.

He was a prolific draftsman, leaving thousands of pencil portraits and preparatory drawings that are highly celebrated.

Ingres served as director of the French Academy in Rome from 1834 to 1841, overseeing the Villa Medici and the Prix de Rome winners.

Art historians note that Ingres deliberately added extra vertebrae to the odalisque's back to create a graceful, elongated silhouette, deviating from anatomical accuracy.

Before fame as a painter, Ingres played violin professionally, coining the French phrase 'violon d'Ingres' meaning a secondary hobby.

Dalí and others admired Ingres' elongated forms and dreamlike precision, seeing him as a precursor to their movement.

Ingres was an accomplished amateur violinist. The phrase "violon d'Ingres" entered French language to describe a person's secondary hobby or talent.

He studied at the Toulouse Academy and later the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Jacques-Louis David.

Ingres was a staunch Neoclassicist and a vocal opponent of Romanticism, particularly the work of Eugène Delacroix. He championed line and classical form.

The Raft of the Medusa was painted by Théodore Géricault in 1819. Ingres is known for works like La Grande Odalisque and The Apotheosis of Homer.

Ingres died on January 14, 1867, in Paris. The 1848 Revolution occurred earlier; he was still active and painting into his eighties.

He embraced his unique style, but critics coined 'Ingresque' to describe his elongated figures, which he defended as ideal beauty.

His 1856 portrait of Madame Moitessier caused scandal for its low-cut gown, though 'Madame X' is actually by John Singer Sargent.

Ingres painted Napoleon I on his throne, but had no direct role in designing coronation robes for Napoleon III.