(Oostacker 1781–1839 Brussels)
The farewell, signed, dated J. Paelinck 1833,
oil on canvas, 100 x 83 cm, framed, (Rei)

After having studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, Joseph Paelinck moved to Paris, where he became a student of Jacques Louis David (1748-1825), leader of the French Classicism movement and Napoleon’s official painter. There, Paelinck perfected the art of historical painting and found a style he would keep his whole career. In 1804, he was awarded a prize for his painting, ‘The judgement of Paris’, which helped him secure a position as a professor at the Ghent Academy of Fine Arts. The institution then allowed him to spend five years in Italy; his most important work from this period being „Rome under Augustus“, which he painted for the Quirinal Palace. The present work, with its Renaissance subject and idealised figures that are typical of the Troubadour Style, shows Paelinck as a worthy follower of Jacques Louis David. After having studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, Joseph Paelinck moved to Paris, where he became a student of Jacques Louis David (1748-1825), leader of the French Classicism movement and Napoleon’s official painter. There, Paelinck perfected the art of historical painting and found a style he would keep his whole career. In 1804, he was awarded a prize for his painting, ‘The judgement of Paris’, which helped him secure a position as a professor at the Ghent Academy of Fine Arts. The institution then allowed him to spend five years in Italy; his most important work from this period being „Rome under Augustus“, which he painted for the Quirinal Palace.
The present work, with its Renaissance subject and idealised figures that are typical of the Troubadour Style, shows Paelinck as a worthy follower of Jacques Louis David.