Alexandre Cabanel was a French academic painter known for his neoclassical and mythological paintings. He was born in 1823 in Montpellier, France, and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He won the Prix de Rome in 1845 and became one of the leading painters of his time. He is best known for his paintings such as The Birth of Venus, The Death of Moses, and The Temptation of Saint Anthony. Cabanel's work was highly regarded by the academic establishment, but was later criticized by the avant-garde movements such as Impressionism.
