Narcisse Virgilio Díaz

Narcisse Virgilio Díaz de la Peña (August 25, 1807–November 18, 1876) was a French painter. Diaz was born in Bordeaux of Spanish parents. At the age of ten, Diaz became an orphan, and misfortune dogged his earlier years. His foot was bitten by a reptile in Meudon wood, near Sèvres, where he had been taken to live with some friends of his mother. The bite was badly dressed, and ultimately it cost him his leg. Afterwards his wooden stump became fam... more

Narcisse Virgilio Díaz de la Peña (August 25, 1807–November 18, 1876) was a French painter. Diaz was born in Bordeaux of Spanish parents. At the age of ten, Diaz became an orphan, and misfortune dogged his earlier years. His foot was bitten by a reptile in Meudon wood, near Sèvres, where he had been taken to live with some friends of his mother. The bite was badly dressed, and ultimately it cost him his leg. Afterwards his wooden stump became famous. At fifteen he entered the studios at Sèvres, where the decoration of porcelain occupied him; but tiring of the restraint of fixed hours, he took to painting Eastern figures dressed in richly coloured garments. Turkish and Oriental scenes attracted him, and many brilliant gems remain of this period. He spent much time at Barbizon; and although he is the least exalted of the half-dozen great artists who are usually grouped around that name, he sometimes produced works of the highest quality. About 1831 Díaz encountered Théodore Rousseau,... less