Brief Biography-François André Vincent was a neoclassical painter. His father, François Élie Vincent, was a miniaturist who wanted his son to enter banking, but the young François preferred painting. He joined the atelier of Joseph Marie Vien for training and won the Grand Prix in 1768. François travelled to Rome and stayed for eight years. There, he became influenced by the works of Jean Honore Fragonard, who was in Italy for seven months in 1774. He returned to France to become an academy associate in 1777, and in 1782, he became an Academician. In 1792, he was appointed professor and became one of the principal neoclassical painters of his era. He also worked as an etcher and painted chinaware. His wife, Labille Guiard Adélaide was a successful portraitist; she had been a lifelong friend of François from whom she learned. François died in Paris in 1816.