Blanchard, Jacques

Blanchard, Jacques a distinguished French painter, was born in Paris in 1600, and studied under his uncle, Nicolas Botteri. He was the first to establish a true and natural style of coloring, in which the French artists were very deficient. His chief works are two pictures that he painted for the Church of Notre Dame-one representing the Descent of the Holy Ghost, and the other St. Andrew Kneeling before the Cross. The following are some of his principal works: The Holy Family; another Holy Family, with St. Catharine and St. John; The Birth of the Virgin; St. Agnes Adoring the Infant Jesus. Blanchard died in 1638. See Spooner, Biog. Hist. of the Fine Arts, s.v.; Chalmers, Biog. Dict. s.v.; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s.v.