Biography

French painter. He was taught by his father, Louis Boullogne the Elder, together with his brother Bon Boullogne, and his sisters Geneviève (1645-1708) and Madeleine (1646-1710). Louis the Elder took part in the decoration of the Louvre and Versailles. He was one of the fourteen founders of the Painting Academy and gave his children a solid traditional formation.

In 1673 Louis the Younger won the Prix de Rome with Crossing the Rhine, which enabled him to go to the Académie de France in Rome, apparently when his brother Bon returned from there. In Italy he studied the works of Raphael and the Bolognese school, and made copies of paintings for reproduction as tapestries by the Gobelins. In Rome he proved a diligent student, winning a prize at the Accademia di San Luca for a drawing of Alexander Cutting the Gordian Knot.

Returning to France he worked in Versailles and the Invalids, where he painted (among other works) two of the Four Elements. In 1681 he joined the Academy in 1681 on presentation of its Auguste Orders to Close the Gates of Janus Temple (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Amiens). Appointed professor in 1694, he became director in 1722, and succeeded Coypel in 1725 as the "King's First Painter". Louis XIV had one year before raised him to nobility.

His works are preserved in many French museums, in particular in Versailles.