Nicolas Guy Brenet was born in July, 1728 in Paris.  He was a pupil of Boucher and a disciple of Poussin and Guido Reni from whom he learned Classicism when it was at its height.  He entered the Ecole Royale des Beaux-Arts in 1754; Brenet ended his apprenticeship with Francois Boucher at the age of 26 and two years later went to the Academie de France in Rome, where he was the first to reproduce a work of Caravaggio's.  He returned to France three years later and became renown for his precise Neoclassical images.

Brenet received commissions from churches in Lyon in 1759 and from 1762 to 1769 he created an entire series of paintings which made up the life of Christ.  He was superintendent of royal buildings from 1775 and died on February 21, 1792 in Paris. 

Below: Sleeping Endymion by Nicolas Guy Brenet. Sleeping Endymion is a fine example of Classicism; the original is in the Worcester Art Museum. I have reproductions of Sleeping Endymion for sale in my store.

Sleeping Endymion