[1] During his youth, master painter members of the French Royal Academy offered a rolling programme of courses, open to the public (for a small fee), in life drawing and the principles and techniques of art.

These courses gave academy members a chance to identify and nurture six of the most gifted young students in any given year and offer them a place on a scheme known as the École royale des élèves protégés, a scheme which offered free tuition with a small stipend for three years, preparing students for Prix de Rome competitions.

[2] After being selected for and completing this three-year programme, under the tutelage of Carle van Loo, he won the Grand Prix de Rome on his first attempt in 1749, with the painting Joseph interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh (now lost).

[4] After returning from Rome in 1753, he set to work on a large painting - The Abduction of Deianira by the Centaur Nessus (Musée du Louvre) - which, when finished in 1755, was the reception piece which earned him a membership in the Royal Academy, by a unanimous vote.

His reputation caught the attention of Elizabeth Petrovna, Empress of Russia, who, in 1760, appointed him to the offices of the director of the Imperial Academy of Arts and that of her principal court painter.