Louis Laguerre
Illustration — Portrait attributed to Alexander Bannerman Louis Laguerre (1663 – 20 April 1721) was a French decorative painter who worked mainly in England.
Also recorded as Louis Legar · Laguerre · old Laguerre · Legar
Louis Laguerre

Possibly Alexander Bannermann · CC0
- Born
- 1663 · Versailles.
- Died
- 1721 · London.
- Nationality
- France
- Occupation
- painter
- Fields
- painting
- Education
- Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture · Jesuit school
- Teachers
- Charles Le Brun
- Languages
- French
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Illustration — Portrait attributed to Alexander Bannerman Louis Laguerre (1663 – 20 April 1721) was a French decorative painter who worked mainly in England.
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Note VALÉORINE
Louis Laguerre (1663–1721) was a French painter. Born in Versailles, the painter died in London.
Louis Laguerre studied at Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture and Jesuit school. The painter worked for Antonio Verrio. Louis Laguerre was active in painting.
Genres include history and history painting. Languages used include French. Works by the painter are held at Louvre Museum, National Army Museum and National Trust, among others.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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Documentary evidence
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Authority files
wikidata · Q2897108 · wikipedia · Louis Laguerre
In this article
Biography
Biography
Louis Laguerre studied at Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture and Jesuit school. Training under Charles Le Brun is recorded. The recorded working language is French. The field of work recorded is painting. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are history. Employment is recorded with Antonio Verrio. Work by Louis Laguerre is recorded in the collections of Yale Center for British Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, Louvre Museum, Royal Collection Trust and National Army Museum.
Born in Versailles in 1663, Laguerre trained at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture under Charles Le Brun and came to England in 1683, where he first worked with Antonio Verrio, and then on his own. He rivalled with Sir James Thornhill in the field of history painting, primarily decorating the great houses of the nobility. His wall paintings can be found in Blenheim Palace, Marlborough House, Petworth House, Burghley House, Fetcham Park House and Chatsworth House. In the 1980s, a restoration project revealed work by Laguerre at Frogmore House also. His subject matter included English victories over the armies of Louis XIV; at Hampton Court Palace he carried out work for William III of England, for whom he depicted the Labours of Hercules. Laguerre painted religious subjects at St Lawrence's Church, Whitchurch, London. In 1731 Alexander Pope wrote, On painted ceilings you devoutly stare Where sprawl the saints of Verrio or Laguerre... which was taken by some contemporaries to be a reference to Laguerre's work for James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos at this church and the nearby Cannons House. Laguerre was also a director of Godfrey Kneller's London Academy of Drawing and Painting, founded in the autumn of 1711. He died in London on 20 April 1721. His father-in-law was Jean Tijou.
Selected works
Selected works
• Illustration — Julius Caesar sacrificing before going to the Senate, 1692-1694, oil on plaster - Painted Hall, Chatsworth House • Illustration — Christ rising into Heaven, c.1688-1693 - Chapel, Chatsworth House • Illustration — File:Christ healing the Sick, c.1688-1693 - Chapel, Chatsworth House • Illustration — An Assembly of the Gods, c.1688-1693 - State Drawing Room, Chatsworth House • Illustration — Phaeton and Apollo, c.1688-1693 - State Music Room, Chatsworth House • Illustration — Triumph of Diana, c.1688-1693 - State Bedchamber, Chatsworth House • Illustration — Judgment of Paris (Dispatch of the Apple of Discord), c.1688-1693 - State Closet, Chatsworth House • Illustration — Prometheus and Pandora, 1718–20, The Grand Staircase, Petworth House • Illustration — Murals with fictive architecture and portraits, c.1720, Saloon, Blenheim Palace • Illustration — The Triumph of the Duke of Marlborough, c.1720, Saloon ceiling Blenheim Palace
Identity and origins
Identity and origins
The authorities additionally record the headings Louis Legar, Laguerre, old Laguerre, Legar and La Guerre. His recorded language was French. One child is recorded: John Laguerre. Other recorded relations include Jean Tijou and Louis XIV of France.

Portrait of William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan, by John Simon, after Louis Laguerre, mezzotint, early 18th century
Louis Laguerre, engraved by John Simon · Houghton Library, Harvard University
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1663
Louis Laguerre born at Versailles.
1721
Louis Laguerre died at London.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Versailles.
Birth place
London.
Death place
Literature
Literature
Literature
Laguerre and computerized tomography: Consistency conditions and stability of the radon transform, Lecture Notes in Mathematics, 1985.
Laguerre, Louis, Oxford Art Online, 2003
Laguerre, Louis, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, 2011
Laguerre, Louis (1663–1721), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2017
Scholarly footprint
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Rubeigh James Minney. Hampton Court. Cassell. 181. 1972. 9780304938414.
- 2.The Rise and Fall of James Brydges, Duke of Chandos.
- 3.Epistle IV (Epistles to Several Persons: Epistle IV To Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington)
Bibliography printed in the source article · 6
- Bénézit, Emmanuel. Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Gründ. 8. 312. 2006. 2-7000-3078-8.
- Smith, Nicola. Laguerre, Louis. The Dictionary of Art. Grove's Dictionaries. 18. 644. 1996. 1-884446-00-0.
- Smith, Nicola. Laguerre, Louis. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. 32. 210–211. 2004. 0-19-861382-2.
- Waterhouse, Ellis K. Painting in Britain, 1530 to 1790. Penguin Books. 1978. 0-14-056101-3.
- Wescher, Paul. Philippe Mercier and the French Artists in London. Art Quarterly. 14. 179–194. Autumn 1951.
- Whinney, Margaret. English Art, 1625–1714. Clarendon Press. 8. 1957. 1150992276.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q2897108: Louis LaguerreWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Louis Laguerre studied at Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture and Jesuit school. He trained under Charles Le Brun.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Paintings
19,103 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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- Louis Joseph WatteauArtist
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- Louis LamotheArtist
- Louis LatoucheArtist
- Louis le BrocquyArtist
- Louis LemaireArtist
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