| François-Léon Benouville | |
| Birth Date: | 30 March 1821 |
| Death Date: | 16 February 1859 |
| Death Place: | Paris |
| Movement: | Neoclassical, Orientalist |
| Awards: | Prix de Rome (1845); Prix des Beaux Arts (1845) with Alexandre Cabanel |
François-Léon Benouville (in French pronounced as /fʁɑ̃swa leɔ̃ bənuvil/; Paris 30 March 1821 - 16 February 1859 Paris) was a French painter noted for his Neoclassical religious compositions and for painting Orientalist subjects.
Léon Benouville first studied with his elder brother, Jean-Achille Benouville (1815–1891), in the studio of François-Edouard Picot before he transferred to École des Beaux-Arts in 1837. Like his brother he received the Prix de Rome in 1845. Both he and his brother travelled to Rome. In Rome, as a Prix de Rome pensionary at the Villa Medici. He remained there for a year, but his brother stayed on for two more years. His works produced in Rome are influenced by early Christianity and often show representations of antiquity.
Benouville was best known for his portraits, mythological and religious compositions in the Neoclassical and Orientalist style. He worked in oils, ink and chalk.
In 1845, Benouville, together with contemporary Alexandre Cabanel, was the recipient of the Prix des Beaux Arts for his painting, Jesus at the Pretorium.[1]
List of Orientalist artistsOrientalism