The Virgin and Child

1846–1850 · Formation

Beaux-Arts de Paris

1848–1850

The Prix de Rome: three attempts

In April 1848 Bouguereau enters the Prix de Rome competition for the first time, but soon riots break out in Paris and he enrols in the National Guard; he fails to win in 1848 (third place by some accounts, second prize by others) or in 1849. In 1850 his “Zenobia Found on the Banks of the Araxes” wins a joint first prize: it receives fewer votes than Paul Baudry’s work, but because of the revolution of 1848 no one was sent to Italy and a vacancy has arisen at the French Academy in Rome.

1851–1853 · Formation

French Academy in Rome

1857

The Salon of 1857: a medal, Gautier and Napoleon III’s commissions

The works Bouguereau shows at the Salon of 1857 arouse the enthusiasm of Théophile Gautier and win a medal of honour, above all for the decoration of the Bartholoni mansion. Commissions from Emperor Napoleon III follow: in 1857 an official commission for “The Emperor Visiting the Victims of the Flood at Tarascon in June 1856” (other accounts say the ministry gave this commission in 1856).

24 mai 1866

Married: Marie-Nelly Monchablon

3 April 1877

The death of his wife Nelly; in June, of the baby Maurice

In October 1876 Nelly has a fifth child, Maurice, but her health declines and the doctors suspect tuberculosis (other accounts say she dies of complications after childbirth); on 3 April 1877 Bouguereau’s wife dies, aged forty. Two months later, in June, the baby Maurice dies too.