The Martyrdom of Saint Hippolytus

Simon Julien French

Not on view

Originally from Toulon, Simon Julien studied first with Michel-François Dandré-Bardon in Marseille before traveling to Paris and winning a first place at the Royal Academy, allowing him to enroll in the affiliated school directed by Carle Vanloo. At this very early stage of his career, before he had studied in Rome, Julien received an important commission from Jean de Jullienne to paint the Martyrdom of Saint Hippolyte. This sheet appears to be an early study for that painting, intended for the Church of Saint Hippolyte in Paris. Completed in 1762, the painting was later removed from the church in 1791 and is today in the cathedral Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Lyon.


The drawing differs from the final composition in format and many details, although the rarity of the subject as well as the stylistic debt of the draftsmanship to the style of Julien’s teacher at the time, Carle Vanloo, support the attribution.

The Martyrdom of Saint Hippolytus, Simon Julien (French, Toulon 1735–1800 Paris), Pen and brown ink, brush and brown and gray wash, over red chalk

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