Jacques Dumont le Romain

Who was Jacques Dumont le Romain?

Jacques Dumont called "le Romain", was a French history and portrait painter, called "the Roman" from his youthful residence at Rome and to distinguish him from other artists named Dumont, notably his fellow-academician Jean-Joseph Dumont. His father Pierre was a court sculptor to the duke of Lorraine and his elder brother, François, was also a sculptor. In addition to his paintings he practiced etching, in which medium he reproduced some of his paintings and, for example, Servandoni's view of the fireworks celebrating the marriage of the dauphin, 1730. Though comparatively unknown today, he enjoyed celebrity and a long, successful career.

Pierre-Jean Mariette, who knew him well, reported that in his youth le Romain made his way to Rome by camping out; Mariette makes errors about his teacher in Rome, however. Dumont returned to Paris in 1725.

In 1727, he first showed at the Paris Salon and in 1728 he was received as a member of the Académie royal de peinture et de sculpture, with a Hercule et Omphale as his morceau de reception. At meetings he terrorized his fellow-academicians with his acerbic and caustic wit.