Watteau, Jean Antoine

1684 - Jean Antoine Watteau, born on the 10th of October in Flemish town of Valenciennes, which had just been annexed by the French king Louis XIV. He was a French painter whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement (in the tradition of Correggio and Rubens), and revitalized the waning Baroque idiom, which eventually became known as Rococo.

1703 - He was employed as an assistant by the painter Claude Gillot, whose work represented a reaction against the turgid official art of Louis XIV's reign.

1709 - He tried to obtain the Prix de Rome and was rejected by the Academy.

1712 - He tried again and was considered so good that, rather than receiving the one-year stay in Rome for which he had applied, he was accepted as a full member of the Academy.

1720 - Becoming ill, he moved to England for a while, looking for a better climate but returning in worse health.

1721 - He died in Nogent-sur-Marne on the 18th of July at the age of 37.