François-Xavier Fabre (1766–1837)

• Was a French painter of historical subjects.
• Born in Montpellier.

• Fabre was a pupil of Jacques-Louis David, and made his name by winning the Prix de Rome in 1787. 

• During the French Revolution, Fabre went to live in Florence, becoming a member of the Florentine Academy, where he taught painting.

• The friends he made in Italy included the dramatist, Vittorio Alfieri, whose widow, Princess Louise of Stolberg-Gedern, Countess of Albany, he is said to have married.

• On Louise's death in 1824, he inherited her fortune, which he used to found an art school in his home town.

• On his own death, he bequeathed his own art collection to the town, forming the basis of the Musée Fabre.

• Among his pupils in Florence was Emilio Santarelli.

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