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Heim, François-Joseph
(b Belfort, 16 Jan 1787; d Paris, 30 Sept 1865). French painter. His father, Joseph Heim ( fl 1781–after 1788), a decorative painter and drawing-master in Alsace, intended Heim for a career in mathematics but, recognizing his skill in drawing, sent him instead to the studio of François-André Vincent in 1803. He won second prize in the competition for the Prix de Rome in 1806 with Return of the Prodigal Son (untraced) and took the prize with Theseus, Conqueror of the Minotaur (Paris, Ecole N. Sup. B.-A.) in 1807. Theseus is characterized by the elongated forms, simple outlines and theatrical light effects that recur in extreme form in the audaciously mannered Arrival of Jacob in Mesopotamia (Bordeaux, Mus. B.-A.), painted in Rome and exhibited in the Salon of 1812; in the Robe of Joseph Shown to Jacob (exh. 1817; Paris, Louvre); and in the two works on the theme of Titus (exh. 1819; both Paris, Louvre), painted as overdoors for the château of Versailles. The imperial government rewarded him by commissioning a picture very different from his academic work, the Defence of Burgos (1813; Versailles, Château), which he painted in the panoramic manner of L. F. Lejeune (1775–1848), but with a better sense of atmosphere and composition. The empire fell too soon to allow Heim to build on his successful beginning as a battle painter. The Restoration government gave him a less promising theme from recent history, the Recovery of the Royal Bones from Saint-Denis in 1817 (1822; Saint-Denis, Abbey), which Heim painted with a memorable range of light effects, culminating in the eerie silhouette of Saint-Denis against a moonlit cloud.
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