Les frères Balze

Their story.

Jean-Antoine-Raymond Balze and Paul Balze were both French artists. Jean-Antoine-Raymond was born in 1818 in Rome and died in 1909 in Paris, while Paul was born on April 29, 1815 in Rome and died on March 23, 1884 in Paris. They were both protected by Ingres when they began their artistic careers.

Jean-Antoine-Robert

Jean-Antoine-Raymond entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1832 and applied for the copyist's card at the Louvre. He made copies of the frescoes of the Vatican Lodges with his brother Paul in 1840, at the request of Ingres. These copies were exhibited at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Balze also participated in the renovation of the Hôtel de Ville de Paris and restored the large fresco painted by Franck Perrier on the long vault of the Galerie dorée of the former Hôtel du comte de Toulouse, headquarters of the Banque de France since 1808, between 1865 and 1869. He was awarded the légion d'honneur in 1873 and died in 1909.

Paul Balze, meanwhile, studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was admitted as a copyist to the Louvre. He accompanied his brother Raymond to Rome, where they assisted Ingres in copying Raphael's frescoes of the Vatican Lodges. These copies were then placed in the Palais des Etudes in Paris. Paul became a painter and worked on the design of several religious buildings. He made copies of Raphael's works and contributed to the decoration of the Hôtel de la Banque de France in Paris. He also painted frescoes for the Saint-Symphorien Church in Versailles and restored frescoes at the Chaalis Abbey.

In sum, both brothers were talented artists who contributed to the preservation and creation of important works of art.