Alexis-Simon Belle (1674-1734)

• Was a French painter who specialised in portrait painting.
• Belle was born in Paris, the second child and only son of Jean-Baptiste Belle, also a painter, and of Anne his wife. 

• Belle studied first under his father, then continued his training in the studio of François de Troy.

• He began to produce work at Saint-Germain in the years 1698 to 1701. 

• In August 1700, Belle won the Prix de Rome, but went on working at Saint-Germain instead of travelling to Italy.

• On 12 November 1701, Belle married the miniature painter Anne Chéron, when he was described as painter in ordinary to the King of England.

• Belle became the principal painter to the Jacobite court, where he and his wife settled and worked. 

• He gained an important commission for the Jacobite Winifred, Lady Strickland in 1703 which led to other work.

• Belle's most famous portrait of James Edward Stuart dates from 1712, just before he left Saint Germain for Lorraine.

• During the years 1716 to 1719, Belle received many commissions from Jacobites in exile after the unsuccessful rising of 1715.

• Belle's first wife, Anne Chéron, died in April 1718.

• On 12 January 1722 he married as his second wife the engraver Marie-Nicolle Horthemels.

• Belle died at Paris in 1734.

• He was the master of the painter Jacques-André-Joseph-Camelot Aved.

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