ISABEY, JEAN BAPTISTE (1767-1855) , French painter, was born at Nancy on April II, 1767. He went to Paris in 1785 and became a pupil of David. Employed at Versailles on por traits of the dukes of Angouleme and Berry, he was given a corn mission by the queen, which opens the long list of those which he received, up to the date of his death in 1855, from the suc cessive rulers of France. Patronized by Josephine and Napoleon, he arranged the ceremonies of their coronation and prepared drawings for the publication intended as its official commemora tion, a work for which he was paid by Louis XVIII., whose portrait he executed in 1814. Although Isabey did homage to Napoleon on his return from Elba, he continued to enjoy the favour of the Restoration, and took part in arrangements for the coronation of Charles X. The monarchy of July conferred on him an im
portant post in connexion with the royal collections, and Napoleon III. granted him a pension, and the cross of commander of the Legion of Honour. "Review of Troops by the First Consul" was one of his most important compositions, and "Isabey's Boat,"— a charming drawing of himself and family—produced at a time when he was much occupied with lithography—had an immense success at the Salon of 1820 (engraved, Landon, Annales, i. 125). His portrait of "Napoleon at Malmaison" is held to be the best ever executed.
See Madame de Basily-Callimaki, J. B. Isabey, so vie et son temps (1909).