Jean-François Gilles Colson

Portrait of Samuel Foote, now in the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Jean-François Gilles Colson, the son of Jean-Baptiste Gilles, was born at Dijon in 1733. He was a pupil of his father, of Frère Imbert at Avignon, and of Nonotte at Lyons. On coming to Paris he was presented to the Duke of Bouillon, who kept him in constant employment for forty years as architect, sculptor, painter, and even gardener. He gained a high reputation as a portrait painter, and left several manuscripts on perspective, poetry, and the fine arts. He died in Paris in 1803.

References

This article incorporates text from the article "COLSON, Jean François Gille" 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.