In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female human body. William-Adolphe Bouguereau was born in La Rochelle , France, on 30 November , into a family of wine and olive oil merchants. He had an elder brother, Alfred, and a younger sister, Marie known as Hanna , who died when she was seven.
Another sibling, Kitty, was born in Here he learned to draw and paint from Louis Sage, who had studied under Ingres. Bouguereau then reluctantly left his studies to return to his family, now residing in Bordeaux. Bouguereau also worked as a shop assistant, hand-colouring lithographs and making small paintings that were reproduced using chromolithography. He was soon the best pupil in his class and decided to become an artist in Paris.
To fund the move, he sold portraits — 33 oils in three months. All were unsigned and only one has been traced. Dante and Virgil in Hell was an early example of his neo-classical works. Academic painting placed the highest status on historical and mythological subjects and Bouguereau determined to win the Prix de Rome , which would gain him a three-year residence at the Villa Medici in Rome, Italy, where, in addition taking formal lessons, he could study firsthand the Renaissance artists and their masterpieces, as well as Greek, Etruscan, and Roman antiquities.
The young artist entered the Prix de Rome contest in April Soon after work began there were riots in Paris , and Bouguereau enrolled in the National Guard.
After an unsuccessful attempt to win the prize, he entered again in Following days of competition, he again failed to win. His third attempt commenced unsuccessfully in April with Dante and Virgil but five months later, he heard he had won a joint first prize for Shepherds Find Zenobia on the Banks of the Araxes.
