Vénus et l'Amour

c. 1715 – 1717

Declines to become Peter I’s court painter

Peter I offers Nattier the post of court painter in Russia, but he, citing his attachment to his homeland, declines and spends almost his entire life in Paris.

29 October 1718

Elected to the Academy for “Phineus and His Companions”

Nattier is elected to the Academy for his mythological painting “Phineus and His Companions Turned to Stone by the Head of Medusa”, painted after his return to Paris (now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tours).

1720

A financial collapse all but ruins Nattier

The financial collapse of 1720, caused by the schemes of Law, all but ruined the painter. He had aspired to be a history painter, but was forced to devote all his energy to the more lucrative portrait.

1740s

Appointed first portraitist to Louis XV

In the 1740s Nattier is appointed first portraitist to King Louis XV. His portraits of court ladies as classical goddesses were very fashionable, partly because he could beautify a sitter while keeping her likeness.

1754

His son Jean-Marc drowns in the Tiber

Nattier had sent his son, who showed great promise, to Italy to finish his training as a painter; six months after reaching Rome the young man drowned while bathing in the Tiber.

7. november 1766

Died