Charles-Michel-Ange Challe

Who was Charles-Michel-Ange Challe?

Charles-Michel-Ange Challe, a French painter, architect, and mathematician, was born in Paris in 1718. He studied under André, Lemoine, and Boucher, and subsequently visited Rome. A 'Sleeping Diana,' which he painted in 1744, and a 'Venus' by him are to be seen in Brunswick. He also painted many ceilings for palaces and churches, but never gained much reputation as a painter, although elected an Academician in 1753. As an architect and as draughtsman to the king he directed the theatrical entertainments at Fontainebleau in 1766, and the fêtes and illuminations at Versailles on the occasion of the birth of Louis XVI in 1764, as well as the funerals of the Dauphin and the Dauphiness, of Stanislaus, King of Poland, of the Queen of Spain, and of Louis XV and his queen, Marie Leszczynska. He was a knight of the Order of St. Michael, married the daughter of the painter Nattier, and died in Paris in 1778.