Noël-Nicolas Coypel

His father, Noël Coypel, was a well-known artist, as was his half-brother, Antoine Coypel, who was almost thirty years his senior. He learned the basic elements of painting from them. After winning several awards from the Académie Royale, he received their accreditation in 1716 and became a full member in 1720, when Antoine was the Rector there. His reception piece was a depiction of the god Neptune abducting the nymph Amymone.

In 1727, King Louis XV announced a competition to promote history painting at the Académie. Coypel submitted "The Triumph of Amphitrite". Although it failed to win a prize, it proved to have great popular appeal.

Encouraged by this, he sought to make himself better known by offering to paint the Chapel of the Virgin at the 13th century Church of Saint-Sauveur, without remuneration. The ceiling was especially noted, for what was described as its "unusual composition". His works there were short-lived however, as a reconstruction project that began in 1787 was interrupted by the Revolution and ended with the church being demolished.

He also created a painting for the Order of Minims at the Place des Vosges, representing Saint Francis of Paola crossing the sea with his companions. Shortly after, he executed two paintings in the secret chapel of the Sorbonne; a Saint Anthony and a Saint Hillary. King Louis owned a copy of his "Glory of the Angels", displayed at Versailles, and a Nativity scene in the Queen's private oratory

In 1733. he was appointed to a professorship at the Académie. The following year, he died suddenly from an unspecified "domestic accident".

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Coypel s.v. Noel Nicholas Coypel". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 355.

Neptune Abducting the Nymph Amymone, c.1720

Primary sources

• Dezallier d'Argenville, Antoine Joseph (1762) [1745]. Abregé de la vie des fameux peintres. Vol. 4. Paris: De Bure l'aîné. pp. 441–448. OCLC 1038747111 – via the Internet Archive.

General studies

• Delaplanche, Jérôme (2004). Noël-Nicolas Coypel (1690-1734) (in French). Paris: Arthena. ISBN 2-903239-31-2. OCLC 56733177.
• Lomax, David (1982). "Noël-Nicolas Coypel (1690-1734)". Revue de l'Art (57): 29–48. ISBN 2-222-96342-7.
• Messelet, Jean (1928–1930). "Noël-Nicolas Coypel". In Dimier, Louis (ed.). Les peintres français du XVIII-e siècle (in French). Paris, Bruxelles: G. Van Oest. vol. 2, pp. 217–227. OCLC 564527521.

Reference books

• Bénézit, Emmanuel (2006) [first published in French in 1911–1923]. Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Vol. 4. Paris: Gründ. pp. 127–128. ISBN 2-7000-3074-5 – via the Internet Archive.
• Blumer, Marie-Louise (1961). "Coypel (Noël-Nicolas)". In Roman d'Amat, Jean-Charles; et al. (eds.). Dictionnaire de biographie française (in French). Vol. 9. Paris: Letouzey et Ané. cols. 1147–1149. OCLC 928665618.
• Cornu, Paul [in French] (1913). "Coypel, Noël-Nicolas". In Thieme, Ulrich (ed.). Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler. Vol. 8. Leipzig: E. A. Seemann. pp. 30–31. OCLC 1039527588 – via the Internet Archive.
• Drapkin, Joshua (1996). "Noël-Nicolas Coypel". In Turner, Jane (ed.). The Dictionary of Art. Vol. 8. New York: Grove's Dictionaries. pp. 91–92. ISBN 1-884446-00-0. LCCN 96-13628. OCLC 1033653438 – via the Internet Archive.
• Guicharnaud, Hélène. "Coypel, Noël-Nicolas". In Kasten, Eberhard; et al. (eds.). Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon (in German). Vol. 22. München, Leipzig: Saur. pp. 101–103. ISBN 3-598-22762-0. OCLC 644411058.

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