André Jolivard

He was named after his great-uncle and godfather, André Jolivard, who was a canon at the Church of Sainte-Radegonde in Poitiers.

As a young man, he rejected the provincial bourgeoisie and went to Paris to study law, but was inducted into the Third Regiment of the Imperial Guard of Honor [fr] in 1813.

[1] After seeing combat in the Battle of Leipzig, he was mustered out in 1814 and returned to his legal studies, obtaining his diploma in 1816, but he chose to pursue a career in the arts instead.

He also practiced engraving and was one of the first members of the Société libre des beaux-arts de Paris [fr].

He was decorated with the Legion of Honor in 1835, the year that his painting "Farm Donkeys" was acquired by the State.