Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/288

282 LE BRUN LEBRUN in the Crimea, distinguished himself at the battle of the Alma, and was made brigadier general. In 1857 he became general of division, and in 1859 bore a prominent part in the battle of Solferino. In August, 1869, he succeeded Mel as minister of war, but -resigned two months afterward. He resumed the post in January, 1870, in the Ollivier ministry, was made marshal of France in March, and reported very favorably as to the fitness of the French army to engage in a war with Germany. On the day of the declaration of war (July 19) he was appointed chief of staff of the army of the Rhine, though retaining his portfolio. After the first disasters of the campaign he was re- moved from the ministry, and subsequently served under Bazaine at Metz. For some time he was a prisoner of war in Germany, and sub- sequently took up his residence at the Hague. LE BRUN, Charles, a French painter, born in Paris in 1619, died there, Feb. 12, 1690. He studied in the school of Simon Vouet, and at the age of 15 produced a picture of " Diomedes devoured by his own Horses." He afterward studied under Nicolas Poussin in Rome, and for about six years devoted himself to tfce study of the antique and of the old masters. Having returned to Paris, he was in 1648 admitted to the newly founded royal academy of paint- ing and sculpture, of which he subsequently be- came president. At the recommendation of Colbert, Louis XIV. appointed him his first painter, and conferred upon him the direction of the manufactory of Gobelins tapestry. He painted a grand series of pictures, now at Ver- sailles, illustrating the military triumphs and public works of the reign of Louis XIV., exe- cuted in a half classical, half allegorical style, the monarch being represented in a Roman toga with the flowing peruke of the 17th cen- tury, and with other incongruities and ana- chronisms. For the Louvre he painted a series entitled "The Battles of Alexander," which are considered among his finest works, and are well known through the engravings of Gerard Audran. Another of his pictures, "Mary Magdalen washing the Feet of the Saviour in the House of Simon the Pharisee," was so highly esteemed that in 1815 the emperor of Russia accepted it in exchange for the cele- brated "Marriage at Cana," by Paul Veronese, now in the Louvre. LEBRUN, Charles Francois, duke of Piacenza, a French statesman, born at St. Sauveur-Len- delin, Normandy, March 19, 1739, died near Dourdan, June 16, 1824. In early life he secured the protection of Chancellor Maupeou, and after the downfall of his patron occupied himself with prose translations of Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata, Homer's Iliad, and other w.orks. A letter advocating political and social reforms, published by him in 1789 under the title of La wix du citoyen, brought him into considerable notice, and he was elected a deputy to the states general. As a member of the constituent assembly he opposed the issu- ing of assignats and the establishment of lot- teries. He subsequently became president of the administrative directory of Seine-et-Oise, was twice imprisoned during the reign of ter- ror, entered the council of the ancients in 1795, and after the 18th Brumaire was chosen by Bonaparte third consul. He rendered im- portant services in the adjustment of the finances and the establishment of the court of accounts, and after the coronation of the em- peror was created arch-treasurer and duke. He was also at different times governor gen- eral of Liguria and of Holland. After the ab- dication of Napoleon he adhered to the Bour- bons ; but having accepted the office of grand master of the university under the emperor during the hundred days, he was excluded from the chamber of peers till 1819. His latter years were passed in retirement, during which he finished a translation of the Odyssey. LEBRUN, Marie Louise Elisabeth, a French paint- er, born in Paris, April 16, 1755, died there, March 30, 1842. Her father, M. Vigee, was a painter, and her stepfather was a goldsmith, who exhibited in his shop her earliest portrait, which attracted much attention. She was pat- ronized by Marie Antoinette, and was a favor- ite in fashionable society. She was admitted to the academy of painting, from which females were subsequently excluded. Her marriage in 1775 with Jean Baptiste Pierre Lebrun, the art critic and amateur, who died in 1813, was not a happy one, and they lived most of the time apart. In 1789 she went to Italy, where she was received with great distinction, and paint- ed a remarkable portrait of Lady Hamilton in the character of a bacchante. She afterward visited Germany, Russia, England, and Switz- erland. While in London (1802-'5) she paint- ed portraits of the prince of Wales and of Lord Byron. She was in Switzerland in 1808-'9, and painted Mme. de Stael as Corinne, one of her best portraits. Notwithstanding many dis- appointments and reverses, she retained her artistic and social prominence to extreme age. and in her 80th year executed a portrait of her niece, which showed no decline in power. Besides portraits she painted landscapes and several semi-allegorical pieces. She wrote Sou- venirs de Mme. L. $. Vigee-Lebrun (3 vols., Paris, 1835-'7), which contains lists of more than 650 portraits, 200 Swiss and English land- scapes, and 15 other pictures. LEBRUN, Pierre Antoine, a French poet, born in Paris, Nov. 29, 1785, died there in 1873. At an early age he wrote a tragedy entitled Cori- olan, and other poetical compositions, which secured for him the patronage of Francois de Neuf chateau, one of the ministers of the direc- tory. For his poem on the battle of Auster- litz he received a pension of 1,200 francs from the government. After the fall of the empire he celebrated the glories of Napoleon in a se- ries of poems. In 1828 he succeeded Count Neufchateau as a member of the French acad- emy. From 1831 to 1848 he was director of