CABANEL, ALEXANDRE (1823-188g), French painter, was born at Montpellier on Sept. 28 1823, and died in Paris on Jan. 23 188g. He studied under Picot, and gained the Prix de Rome in 1845. As director of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Napoleon III. he exercised some influence. His subject pictures were enormously popular in their day—an example is the "Birth of Venus" in the Luxembourg—but he is now remembered only for some of his portraits.