Pierre Joseph Célestin François

At age 11, François started his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts of Antwerp where his teachers included Andries Cornelis Lens, an Antwerp artist later working in Brussels in a Neoclassicist style, and Willem Jacob Herreyns, a late follower of Rubens.

François finally returned and established himself in Brussels, where he became a professor at the Academy and the local Atheneum.

On 25 February 1799, François married Marie-Françoise Leyniers, from the famous family of Brussels tapestry weavers.

François dedicated his time to teaching and decorative works with mythological subject matter.

On some of these works he collaborated with his former teacher Andries Cornelis Lens who had moved to Brussels from Antwerp.