(b Morges, Vaud, 23 Nov 1745; d Nantes, 24 Feb 1819). Painter. Among his early portraits are those of Charles de Bourbon, Comte d’Artois, as Colonel General of the Swiss and Grison Guards (1774; ex-Bourbon–Chalus Col., Paris) and Charles-Henri, Comte d’Estaing (untraced; engraved by Charles-Etienne Gaucher). He also painted genre scenes, such as Childhood in the Country and Visit to the Wet-nurse (both untraced; engraved by L. Perrot, fl 1786), and mythological scenes (e.g. Stockholm, Nmus.). In 1791 he left Paris for Rome to join his brother. While there he concentrated on landscapes, for example Gardens of the Villa Borghese (drawings, Nantes, Mus. B.-A.; Rennes, Mus. B.-A. & Archéol.) and Landscape at Nemi (1793; Zurich, priv. col., see 1985 exh. cat., no. 102), also depicting people in local costume (e.g. Peasant Woman of Genzano, Lausanne, Pal. Rumine; drawings, Nantes, Mus. Dobrée). In February 1793 he was obliged to leave Rome with the rest of the French community and by October was in Paris as a member of the Revolutionary Commune des Arts. He produced a number of Revolutionary portraits, including Joseph-Agricol Viala, William Tell and Lycurgus (all untraced; engraved by Pierre-Michel Alix), but spent most of his time quietly in Normandy. In 1802 he worked in Paris for the printmakers Francesco Piranesi (1758–1810) and his brother Pietro Piranesi (1773–after 1807). In 1805 he established himself in Nantes, producing small-scale portraits of the city’s notables (e.g. Nantes, Mus. Dobrée) with sometimes scathing sincerity. In 1812 he decorated the Bourse in Nantes with six large grisailles depicting the Visit of Napoleon to Nantes in 1808 (untraced; drawings, Nantes, Mus. Dobrée).

Part of the Sablet family

• Sablet, (Jean-)François
  • Sablet