Sébastien Jacques Leclerc des Gobelins (Paris 1734-1785)

Sébastien Jacques Leclerc was born into a prolific dynasty of artists. He studied under his father, the celebrated history painter and Peintre du Roi, Sébastien Leclerc II (1676-1763); his grandfather, Sébastien Leclerc I (1637-1714), was the Graveur Ordinaire du Roi, and the leading engraver of his day. Sébastien Jacques Leclerc was, himself, an assistant teacher of perspective at the Académie Royale de Peinture, and a teacher at the Gobelin works. He drew much of his inspiration for his fêtes champêtres from the genres paintings of Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), though his scenes frequently display a more pastoral and narrative character.