View source for Xavier Sigalon

{{Short description|French painter (1787–1837)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Xavier Sigalon
| image = Sigalon, Xavier.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Sigalon in ''Le Magasin pittoresque'', Paris, 1838
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 1787<!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} or {{Birth-date and age|Month DD, YYYY}} -->
| birth_place = [[Uzès]], Gard, France
| death_date = 18 August {{Death year and age|1837|1787}}<!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} or {{Death-date and age|Month DD, YYYY|Month DD, YYYY}} (death date then birth date) -->
| death_place = Rome, Italy
| nationality = French
| other_names =
| occupation = Painter
| known_for = Copy of ''[[The Last Judgment (Michelangelo)|The Last Judgement]]''
}}
'''Xavier Sigalon''' (1787 – 18 August 1837) was a French [[Painting|painter]]. 
He was one of the few leaders of the [[romantic movement]] who cared more for treatment of form than of colour.

==Biography==

Xavier Sigalon was born in [[Uzès]], Gard, towards the end of 1787, son of a poor rural schoolmaster.
With great difficulty he came to [[Paris]] and obtained admission to the studio of [[Pierre-Narcisse Guérin]]. 
He did not agree with the instruction he was given, and tried to train himself by studying the Italian masters in the gallery of [[the Louvre]]. 
In 1822 he exhibited ''The Young Courtesan'', which at once attracted attention and was bought for the Luxembourg.{{sfn|Baynes|1887|p=46}}

Sigalon continued to challenge himself, producing ''Locusta'' in 1824, and ''Athaliahs Massacre'' in 1827. 
Both these works showed incontestable power; but the ''Vision of St Jerôme'', which appeared at the [[Salon of 1831]], and the ''Crucifixion'', were much the most individual of all his achievements.
In 1831 he received the cross of the [[Legion of Honour]].{{sfn|Baynes|1887|p=46}}
His paintings at this time, although powerful in their drawing and composition, were not colorful and did not sell. 
Sigalon found himself forced to earn a humble living by painting portraits.{{sfn|Baynes|1887|p=46}}

In 1833 [[Adolphe Thiers]], then minister of the interior, recalled Sigalon to Paris and entrusted him with the task of copying the [[Sistine Chapel|Sistine]] fresco of  ''[[The Last Judgment (Michelangelo)|The Last Judgement]]'' for a hall in the Palace of the Fine Arts. His friend [[François Souchon]] agreed to assist Sigalon in this huge task.{{sfn|Dévémy|1875|p=299-300}}
There was a dispute between the two artists, and Souchon returned to Paris.
He was replaced as Sigalon's assistant by [[Numa Boucoiran]].{{sfn|Dévémy|1875|p=300}}
When Sigalon exhibited his gigantic work in the Baths of [[Diocletian]] at [[Rome]], he was visited in state by [[Pope Gregory XVI|Gregory XVI]].{{sfn|Baynes|1887|p=46}}
Sigalon carried his copy back to Paris in February 1837.
He returned to Rome some time later to copy the pendants of the Sistine Chapel, but succumbed to an attack of [[cholera]] on 18 August 1837.{{sfn|Dévémy|1875|p=300}}

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book|last=Baynes|first=Thomas Spencer|title=The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General Literature
 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cTY7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA46|access-date=2014-06-21|volume=XXII
 |year=1887|publisher=C. Scribner's sons|chapter=Sigalon, Xavier (1788–1837)}}
*{{cite book|last=Dévémy|first=L.|title=Mémoires de la société d'agriculture, sciences & arts centrale du département du Nord séant a Douai
 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z7wAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA299|access-date=2014-06-21
 |year=1875|chapter=Notices biographiques sur François Souchon, peintre et le P. Hyacinthe Besson, son élève}}
*{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Sigalon, Xavier |volume=25 |pages=58-59}}
{{refend}}

{{Authority control (arts)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sigalon, Xavier}}
[[Category:1787 births]]
[[Category:1837 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Uzès]]
[[Category:19th-century French painters]]
[[Category:French male painters]]
[[Category:French romantic painters]]
[[Category:19th-century French male artists]]
[[Category:18th-century French male artists]]


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