Louis Lafitte

[1] He was living at the Villa Medici in 1793, when protests against French incursions into Italy forced him to flee the Papal States and seek refuge in Florence, where he briefly taught at the Academy.

Financial problems soon forced him to do decorative work and illustrations, including twelve allegories for the months in the French Republican Calendar.

In 1811, he painted Romulus and Remus above the doors of the Sénat at the Palais du Luxembourg for the baptism of Napoléon François Charles Joseph Bonaparte.

Then, from 1814 to 1816, he collaborated with Merry-Joseph Blondel in creating a collection of wallpapers based on the theme of Cupid and Psyche, from a story by Jean de La Fontaine.

[1] In 1816, taking advantage of a peaceful period, he visited London, where the Prince Regent commissioned him to create decorations for a celebration at Carlton House.