A study of the life and work of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867), the French artist whose illusionistic surfaces dominated much of 19th-century French painting. Based on the documentary material at the Musee Ingres, the text traces Ingres's life and work from his formative years in Rome. Georges Vigne analyzes the qualities that have stirred controversy over Ingres's paintings since his emergence as an artist in the first years of the 19th century, including Ingres's admiration of Raphael and early Italian painting, the remarkable nuances of line and bold colour combinations that earned him the designations such as primitive, the arresting eroticism of his images, and the participation of his devoted studio in his work.… (more)