Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

 

This is a picture from 1856 of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.

For some reason I keep finding without looking old photographs of painters in my path.
Ingres was born in Montauban, France, his family moved to my hometown of Toulouse when he was a child,  A great painter, Ingres could have made a career as a musician., he was second violin in the "Orchestre du Capitole" in Toulouse, in his early teens.

He was so talented in the sphere of music that he became a legend in many ways,  the phrase "violon d'Ingres" in French, is a reference to a second talent in an individual that is equal to the first, an activity done regularly in one’s leisure time for pleasure.
He was among students of the school formerly known as "École des Beaux-Arts" in Toulouse from 1791 to 1796 where he also learned architecture, sculpting,  etc...

★ Trivia,  believe it or not I went to the same school (for only a year though), architecture was a mandatory course among others and honestly it was not my cup of tea! 😁 I recall having to sketch an architectural version of a bench and one guy sitting next to me in the class helped me make sense of it that day! I owe him a passing grade! I don't remember his name but recall he was from the famous medieval city of Carcassonne and was taking the train back and forth every weekend!