Jean-Antoine Constantin

[1] Although born and bred in Marseille, he spent his whole professional life as a painter in Aix-en-Provence.

[1] He then lived in Rome for six years[2] under the patronage of Perron, an arts enthusiast from Aix.

[1] In 1786, he succeeded Claude Arnulphy and became the third principal of the drawing school in Aix, continuing in the post until the French Revolution.

[1] He returned to Aix in 1813, with the financial support of François Marius Granet,[2] who gave him an allowance of 150 francs.

[3] François Marius Granet, Auguste de Forbin, Louis Mathurin Clérian, Émile Loubon are some of the later painters to have sought inspiration from his paintings.