PERRIER, François

French history painter and engraver. He visited Rome on two occasions and his style was formed on the example of Lanfranco (in whose studio he worked), Pietro da Cortona and the Carracci. He was Vouet's pupil in Paris for a short time. He was one of the fourteen founder-members of the French Academy in Paris in 1648.

His decorative work helped to introduce the grand BaroqueGLOSSARYThe period in art history from about 1600 to about 1750. In this sense the term covers a wide range of styles and artists. In painting and sculpture there were three main forms of Baroque: (1) sumptuous display, a style associated with the Catholic Counter Reformation and the absolutist courts of Europe (Bernini, Rubens); (2) dramatic realism (Caravaggio); and (3) everyday realism, a development seen in particular in Holland (Rembrandt, Vermeer). In architecture, there was an emphasis on expressiveness and grandeur, achieved through scale, the dramatic use of light and shadow, and increasingly elaborate decoration. In a more limited sense the term Baroque often refers to the first of these categories. The development of the Baroque reflects the period's religious tensions (Catholic versus Protestant); a new and more expansive world view based on science and exploration; and the growth of absolutist monarchies. style to France, but almost all of it has been destroyed or altered. His influence, however, can be seen in the work of Charles Le Brun, who was briefly his pupil.