Henri Decaisne

Maria Malabran as Desdemona in Rossini's "Otello" (1831) Paris, Carnavalet Museum

Henri Decaisne (27 January 1799 – 17 October 1852) was a Belgian historical and portrait painter.

Decaisne was born at Brussels in 1799. As early as 1814 he began to study painting under François, and in 1818 upon the advice of David he went to Paris and entered the studio of Girodet, whence he removed to that of Gros. Several pictures by him are at Versailles; among them are the 'Entry of Charles VII into Rouen' (1838), and the 'Institution of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem' (1842). In 1839 he completed his colossal work, ' Les Belges Illustres.' He died in Paris in 1852. Among his best works are:

The Guardian Angel, ca. 1836, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp

Portraits

• The Queen of the Belgians. 1835.
• The Duke of Orleans. 1833.
• The Princess Clementina of Orleans. 1833.
• Madame Malibran as Desdemona. 1831. (pictured)
• Victor Schoelcher. 1833.
• Alphonse de Lamartine. 1839. (pictured)

Historical and other subjects

• An Indian Family in Exile. 1824.
• Milton dictating 'Paradise Lost' to his Daughter. 1827.
• Charles I taking leave of his Children. 1827.
• Cromwell and his Daughter. 1829.
• Mater Dolorosa. 1835.
• Hagar in the Desert. 1836.
• The Guardian Angel. 1836. (His best work.) (pictured)
• Charity. 1839.
• The Adoration of the Shepherds. 1841.

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  Failure of Military Operation, 1826, Benaki Museum, Athens)

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  Alphonse de Lamartine, in the Museum of Fine Arts of Mâcon

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  François de Blanchefort de Créquy de Bonne

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  Charles de France (1220-1285), comte d'Anjou, 1844, Palace of Versailles

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  Odalisque, Museo Nacional de San Carlos, Mexico City

References

This article incorporates text from the article "DE CAISNE, Henri" in Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers by Michael Bryan, edited by Robert Edmund Graves and Sir Walter Armstrong, an 1886–1889 publication now in the public domain.