Brief Biography-François Pascal Simon Gérard was born in Rome in 1770 to a French father and an Italian mother. He studied with a sculptor before moving to Jacques-Louis David's studio for two years. In 1789, he competed in the Prix de Rome but only gained second place. He returned to Rome with his mother after his father’s death the following year. It temporarily removed him from the political turmoil of France. When back in Paris, he earned a living engraving for publishers. David arranged a position for him on a Revolutionary Tribunal, but he evaded the undesirable duties it involved. In 1795, his portrait Bélisaire won him acclaim, and he won the patronage of Napoleon I. He became a Baron in 1819, won the Légion d’Honneur and was later made the First Painter to Louis XVIII. Again, the nobility of Europe requested his services. Meantime he had fallen out with David and quarrelled with Antoine Jean Gros. He died in 1837. Gérard is remembered chiefly for his portraiture; his historical works were regrettably not up to the standard of his master.