Dominique Antoine Magaud

In 1853, his paintings of Amphitrite and Bacchus, on the ceiling at the "Café des Milles-Colonnes" (named after a famous establishment in Paris) secured his reputation.

In 1858, he painted an allegorical scene of Marseille receiving the world's products at the "Café des Deux Mondes" and, in 1860, Cybele in a chariot pulled by lions, at the Grand Hôtel.

During his work on these commercial enterprises, the Jesuits commissioned him to decorate the large meeting room at their Religious Association; a building originally occupied by the congregation of Saint Vincent de Paul, dating from 1643.

Magaud worked on this project from 1856 to 1864 and created fifteen murals that portrayed the contributions Catholicism had made to civilization.

Following this, he received a major commission from the Prefect, Charlemagne de Maupas, to decorate the new headquarters building for the Prefecture of Bouches-du-Rhône, which was still under construction.