Charles Zacharie Landelle

Biography of Charles Zacharie Landelle ( 1821-1908 )

Charles Landelle was born in 1821 in Laval. He studied under the supervision of the painters Paul Delaroche and Ary Scheffer at the School of Fine Arts in Paris. The painter started exhibiting at the Paris Salon in 1841 with religious works and portraits that met a great success among critics and visitors.

Noticed by the king Louis-Philippe, he won a third-class medal in 1842 and a first-class one in 1848. Four years later, Napoleon III purchased two pieces, "Béatitudes", in order to make a present to the city of Laval, the artist's hometown. The emperor appointed him Knight of the Légion d'honneur and bought "The Rest of The Virgin".

In 1859, he started the decoration for six doors tops for the Hall of the aide-de-camp at the Elysée Palace, depicting the four elements and Allegories of War and Peace. He also won a medal at the 1855's Universal Exhibition and in Philadelphia in 1876.

Landelle became passionate about Orientalist painting after his official mission in Morocco in 1866. Fascinated by these brand new landscapes, the artist travelled across Egypt and the Nile in 1875 with Mariette, the famous Egyptologist. He then travelled to Algeria in 1880 with his son Georges, also a painter. From 1881 to 1892, he used to stay every winter in Algeria, and visited Alger, Biskra, El-Kantara, sharing his love for the country with the painters Auguste Renoir and Paul Leroy.

He was an active member of the Society of French Orientalist Painters.

Charles Landelle participated in the creation of the Fine Art Museum of Laval, thanks to his donation of some of his works as well as ancient paintings. At the peak of his fame, he opened the museum in 1895 alongside the French president Félix Faure.