Coypel, Noel

Coypel, Noel (surnamed Le Poussin), an eminent French painter, was born in Paris in 1628. He studied first under Poncet, and at the age of fourteen entered the school of Quillerier, where he made such rapid progress that his merit procured his election to the Academy in 1659, his reception-picture being Cain Slaying Abel. His celebrated Martyrdom of St. James was painted for the Church of Notre Dame about this time. He was appointed by the king director of the French Academy at Rome, where he went in 1672. His best productions after this were The Virgin Caressinq the Infant and The Holy Family. He died in 1707. See Spooner, Biog. Hist. of the Fine Arts, s.v.; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s.v.