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Nicolas Joseph Ruyssen (17 March 1757 – 7 May 1826) was a French painter and the master draughtsman of the royal princesses of England under the reign of King George III.

Life

Born on 17 March 1757 in the house of a gardener in Hazebrouck, Nicolas Ruyssen showed a talent for drawing from an early age and by the age of eighteen had won first prize at the École des Beaux-Arts de Saint-Omer. Introduced to the entourage of the Duke Anne Louis Alexandre de Montmorency, the young artist was indebted to his distinguished patron for a long stay in Paris. After winning first prize at the École des Beaux-Arts of Saint-Omer in 1775, he spent 6 years in Paris, then several years in Rome at the French Academy in Rome alongside other fellows students like painter Jean-Baptiste Wicar and architects Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine. He became friends with John Flaxman. Returning to Belgium in June 1791, he first settled with his friend, the Prince de la Basèque, in Reningelst on the Belgian border.

In 1793, fleeing the French Revolution, he took refuge in England. Most of the large-format works painted by Ruyssen were destroyed in the fire at his patrons' castle in Reningelst on 6 September 1793 on the orders of General Dominique Vandamme. At an unknown date, he found employment as drawing-master to the daughters of King George III. Several artists, including Biagio Rebecca (1735–1808) and Peltro William Tomkins (1760–1840), worked for the Royal family during this period. Ruyssen was commissioned by Sir William Beechey to paint Queen Charlotte in 1799. In 1801, he published drawings based on the Raphael cartoons owned by the Windsor family in collaboration with engraver Anthony Cardon. Work on the project was suspended in 1801, suggesting that Ruyssen had left the royal service. Little is known of his activities in England thereafter. He painted a portrait of the children of Lord David Gordon (1753–1831) c. 1804. He is known to have given drawing lessons in London around 1810.

Ruyssen returned to France in 1814. In Hazebrouck, he restored several paintings and donated some canvases to the church of Saint Eloi in Hazebrouck. Five of his paintings are kept in the Augustins Museum in Hazebrouck.

In 1819, he bought the ruins of the former hermitage of the Hospital Brothers of St. Anthony on the Mont des Cats to found a school. He had the buildings restored and in 1821, opened a boarding school there with the help of the Brothers of the Christian Schools of Saint-Omer. He soon had a hundred pupils but at his age, it was too heavy a burden. In 1825, he contacted the Trappist Abbey of Notre Dame du Gard. Eight Trappist monks arrived on 26 January 1826 and founded the Mont des Cats abbey.

A few months after the arrival of the monks, Ruyssen died from apoplexy in his home in Godewaersvelde on 7 May 1826. Other sources wrongly reported 17 May or 8 May. In his will, Ruyssen included a clause requiring the monks to teach Flemish, French and the principles of religion to the children of the neighbourhood. He was buried in the oratory of the monastery. When the new monastery was built, his body was transferred to the Mont des Cats abbey church.

References

1. ^ "Ruyssen, Nicolas Joseph". Benezit Dictionary of Artists. 2011. doi:10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.b00158361. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
2. ^ Rouzière, Jean-Antoine (1851). Notice sur Nicolas-Joseph Ruyssen (in French). Lille: Lefebvre-Ducrocq.
3. ^ Abbé Ruyssen (1912-03-14). "Compte rendu de la séance du 14 ars 1912". Bulletin du Comité flamand de France (in French): 4–6. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
4. ^ Fleury, Célia (2007), Caracciolo, Maria-Teresa; Toscano, Gennaro (eds.), "César Hespel de Guermanez (1726–1805), le « premier bienfaiteur » de Jean-Baptiste Wicar", Jean-Baptiste Wicar et son temps 1762–1834, Histoire de l’art (in French), Villeneuve d’Ascq: Presses universitaires du Septentrion, pp. 157–181, ISBN 978-2-7574-3482-6, retrieved 2024-07-20
5. Beaucamp, Fernand (1933). "Deux documents inédits sur le séjour, à Rome et à Florence du peintre hazebrouckois Nicolas-Joseph Ruyssen (1757–1826)". Bulletin du Comité flamand de France (in French): 246–255. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
6. Chanoine Looten (1912). "Le Journal de Voyage de J.N Ruyssen". Bulletin du Comité flamand de France (in French): 53–60. Retrieved 2024-07-20 – via Gallica.
7. ^ Legrand, Pierre (1851-09-21). "Nicolas-Joseph Ruyssen – Résumé biographique". L'Artiste (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-20.
8. "Portrait du capitaine des hussards autrichiens". Ville d'Hazebrouck (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-21.
9. Roberts, Jane (1987). Royal artists: from Mary Queen of Scots to the present day. London: Grafton. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-246-13015-0.
10. Portrait of the Queen painted for Mr Ruyfsen, by Her Majesty’s permission, by Sir William Beechey (1799), sold by Sotheby’s, London, 14 July 1999, lot 97.
11. ^ "Ruyssen (Nicolas Joseph), 1757–1826 – Essays after the Cartoons of Raphael at Windsor Drawn by the gracious Permission of His Majesty and by Permission most humbly Inscribed to Her Majesty the..." Robin Halwas | Rare books. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
12. Ruyssen, Joseph (1801). Essays after the Cartoons of Raphael at Windsor Drawn by the gracious Permission of His Majesty and by Permission most humbly Inscribed to Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain By Her Majesty's most Grateful Devoted Servant J. Ruyssen. . London.
13. Lowndes, William Thomas (1834). The Bibliographer's Manual of English Literature Containing an Account of Rare, Curious, and Useful Books (etc.). Vol. IV. Pickering. p. 1531.
14. "Essays after the cartoons of Raphael. - YCBA Collections Search". collections.britishart.yale.edu. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
15. Nicolas-Joseph Ruyssen. "Lot 170". Sothebys.com. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
16. Farington, Joseph (1923). "Ruythson a Fleming". The Farington diary. Cornell University Library. New York : G. H. Doran. He spoke of His Father being a miller, and that by some means He was able to go to Rome where He studied seven years. He is about fifty five years old, and is much employed in London in giving lessons in drawing, which He does in a singular manner.
17. ^ Cantineau, E. (1891). "La Trappe du Mont des Cattes". Bulletin de la Société de géographie de Lille (in French). Société de géographie de Lille.
18. "Autel, retable, tableau : Descente de Croix (la), statues, tabernacle (autel secondaire sud, en pendant), vue générale". POP : la plateforme ouverte du patrimoine. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
19. "Autel, retable, statues : sainte Catherine, saint Dominique, tabernacle, tableau : Mise au tombeau (autel secondaire nord, en pendant)". POP : la plateforme ouverte du patrimoine. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
20. "Femme casquée-étude en grisaille". Ville d'Hazebrouck (in French). Retrieved 2024-07-21.
21. ^ "Monsieur Nicolas Ruyssen et le Mont des Cattes". Abbaye de Sainte-marie du Mont de l'ordre de Cîteaux réformé au mont des Cattes (in French). Châteauroux: Impr. de A. Majesté et L. Bouchardeau. 1898.
22. ^ "Nicolas Ruyssen | Mont des Cats" (in French). 2024-07-11. Retrieved 2024-07-20.

• French painters
• 1757 births
• 1826 deaths