Jean-Mathieu Léger

The miniaturist, Jean Mathieu Léger, had not been identified until 2024. He was born in Paris on March 9, 1775, the son of Pierre Mathieu Léger and Jeanne Biron. The family lived in the Hôtel des Fermes in the Rue de Grenelle in Paris, which was managed by his father. On February 8, 1790, he was admitted as a student of Jacques-Louis David at the school of the Royal Academy where he remained until 1791. Léger had been friends with another of David's students, Antoine-Jean Gros. From 1792 to 1796, he served as a volunteer in the revolutionary army. During this period, his studio in the Hôtel des Fermes was converted into a prison where his teacher, David, was interned in 1794. He married Madeleine Louise on December 5, 1796. Léger left hardly any traces as an artist, as he died young - on July 4, 1799, at the age of only 24. (We sincerely thank Henry-Noel Canival, Paris, for this biographical information.)