Charles Le Brun (February 24, 1619 - February 22, 1690) was a French painter and art theorist, one of the dominant artists in 17th century France.
Born in Paris, he attracted the notice of Chancellor Séguier, who placed him at the age of eleven in the studio of Simon Vouet [1590-1649]. He was also a pupil of François Perrier [1600-1650]. At fifteen he received commissions from Cardinal Richelieu, in the execution of which he displayed an ability which obtained the generous commendations of Nicolas Poussin [1594-1665], in whose company Le Brun started for Rome in 1642.
In Rome he remained four years in the receipt of a pension due to the liberality of the chancellor. There he worked under Nicolas Poussin, adapting the latter's theories of art.
On his return to Paris in 1646, Le Brun found numerous patrons, of whom Superintendent Fouquet was the most important. Employed at Vaux-le-Vicomte, Le Brun ingratiated himself with Mazarin, then secretly pitting Colbert against Fouquet. Colbert also promptly recognized Le Brun's powers of organization, and attached him to his interests. Together they founded the Academy of Painting and Sculpture (Academie royale de peinture et de sculpture, 1648), and the Academy of France at Rome (1666), and gave a new development to the industrial arts.
In 1660 they established the Gobelins, which at first was a great school for the manufacture, not of tapestries only, but of every class of furniture required in the royal palaces. Commanding the industrial arts through the Gobelins - of which he was director - and the whole artist world through the Academy - in which he successively held every post - Le Brun imprinted his own character on all that was produced in France during his lifetime, and gave a direction to the national tendencies which endured after his death.