Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres was a French Neoclassical painter and an icon of cultural conservatism in the 19th century. Ingres considered himself a history painter who sought to preserve the classical traditions of the Old Masters like Raphael and Nicolas Poussin—traditions that were stark contrast to the popular Romantic style of the time. As a man who profoundly admired the past, his historical subjects and meticulously drawn works were a stylistic antithesis of the emotionally-driven and vibrant color palette of the contemporary Romantic school. Ingres’ work is considered a significant precursor to 20th century Modernism, through his expressive distortions of the human body— particularly in his idealized portraits and elongated figures.