Célestin François Nanteuil

Growing up in an artistic family-his father, Robert, was a scenographer and his brother Charles François (1792-1865) a sculptor-Célestin Nanteuil first apprenticed with Jean Charles Langlois (1789-1870) and then with Ingres (q.v.). In 1827 he entered the Paris École des Beaux-Arts but was expelled two years later over a dispute with a professor. Nanteuil befriended Victor Hugo and started designing frontispieces for the author's writings. Accompanied by Théophile Gautier, Nanteuil was present at the famous Bataille d'Hernani in 1830, when Victor Hugo's unconventional poetic drama was...