François Delpech

Jacques Delille was a French abbé and litterateur, born at Aigueperse, 22 June, 1738; died at Paris, 1 May, 1813. He received his education at the Collège de Lisieux in Paris and became an instructor at the Collège de la Marche in the same city. His translation into verse of Virgil's "Georgics", which appeared in 1770, had very great success and eventually won him a seat in the French Academy. He was afterwards appointed to the chair of poetry in the Collège de France and through the patronage of the Count d' Artois he received as a benefice the Abbey of Saint-Severin, but took only minor orders. In 1786 he accompanied the Count de Choiseul to Constantinople and visited Greece; his stay in the East does not seem, however, to have much influenced his literary career. The French Revolution deprived him of his position and benefice, and in 1794 he had to leave France; his exile was spent in Switzerland, Germany, and England. He returned to France in 1802 and again took his seat in the French Academy. For some years Delille was considered a great poet, Voltaire at one time even going so far as to call him the French Virgil; but he did not enjoy this unwarranted reputation. All agree today that he was a wonderful versifier, having at his command all the secrets of his art, but it is also recognized that his long descriptive poems betray a complete lack of poetic feeling and inspiration. They are a striking illustration of the difference between versification and poetry. His best known works are: "Traduction des géorgiques de Virgile" (Paris, 1770); "Dithyrambe sur l'immortalité de l'âme" (Paris, 1793); "L'Imagination" (Paris, 1806); "Les Trois Règnes de la nature" (Paris, 1806); "La Conversation" (Paris, 1812).

François-Seraphin Delpech (1778-1825) was a French lithographer known for his portraits of personages of the Revolution and First Empire. At the beginning of the 19th-century, Delpech ran the most popular lithographic print shop in Paris. Delpech not only made beautiful lithographic prints from his own designs, but printed lithographs after designs by other artists, and sold these prints in his shop.

Lithography was a relatively new art form, invented by Alois Senefelder (1771-1834) in Germany around 1798. In 1811, Senefelder published The Invention of Lithography, which was soon translated into English, French, and Italian, and the popularity of the technique soared.

Sources: Princeton University Library; Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Artist: François-Seraphin Delpech (1778-1825)
Medium: Lithograph on paper.
Condition: Good condition.
Dimensions: 25 x 17 cm. / 9 3/4 x 6 3/4 in. (sheet); 18 x 13 cm. / 7 x 5 in. (view).
Frame: 28 x 23.5 cm. / 11 x 9 1/4 in. Gild wood, very good condition.
Origin: France.