François-Léon Benouville

François-Léon Benouville (Paris 30 March 1821 – 16 February 1859 Paris) was a French painter noted for his Neoclassical religious compositions and for painting Orientalist subjects.

Life and career


Léon Benouville first studied with his elder brother, Jean-Achille Benouville (1815–1891), in the studio of François-Edouard Picot before he transferred to École des Beaux-Arts in 1837. Like his brother he received the Prix de Rome in 1845. Both he and his brother travelled to Rome. In Rome, as a Prix de Rome pensionary at the Villa Medici. He remained there for a year, but his brother stayed on for two more years. His works produced in Rome are influenced by early Christianity and often show representations of antiquity.

Work and style


Benouville was best known for his portraits, mythological and religious compositions in the Neoclassical and Orientalist style. He worked in oils, ink and chalk.

Awards, prizes and honours
In 1845, Benouville, together with contemporary Alexandre Cabanel, was the recipient of the Prix des Beaux Arts for his painting, Jesus at the Pretorium.

Select list of paintings

 * Portrait of Leconte de Floris 1840
 * Melancholy c. 1843
 * Esther 1844
 * The Mockery of Christ 1845
 * The Wrath of Achilles 1847
 * Christian Martyrs enter the Amphitheatre, c.1855