Biography

French painter. After studying under Pierre de Sève (1623-1695) in Paris, he travelled before 1680 to Rome, where he was profoundly influenced by Raphael and, above all, by Poussin, whose drawings and paintings he copied. In 1682 he sent to Paris four paintings of subjects taken from the life of Christ, which are his first surviving works. They are Christ Expelling the Money-changers from the Temple and Christ Healing the Blind Man (both Art Museum, Saint Louis), Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen) and Mary Magdalen Brought before Christ (Museum and Picture Gallery, Vadodara).

Elected to the Accademia di San Luca in Rome in 1686, he was back in Paris by 1693 at the latest. Colombel, supported by Pierre Mignard, was approved (agréé) and then received as a full member (reçu) by the Académie Royale in 1694. There he became an associate professor (1701) and then professor (1705). He exhibited at the Salons of 1699 and 1704.

He was much employed by Louis XIV both at Versailles and at Meudon. Many of his works have been engraved.