Hubert Robert 

Hubert Robert was a French painter, draftsman, engraver, drawing teacher, garden designer and curator at the Muséum central des arts de la République (future Musée du Louvre).

He is one of the leading French artists of the 18th century.

During his studies at the Collège de Navarre, between 1745 and 17515, one of his teachers, Abbé Batteux, noted the young student's aptitude for drawing, seeing him draw a musketeer on the back of his copy of a Greek translation. After an initial apprenticeship in the workshop of sculptor Michel-Ange Slodtz (according to Pierre-Jean Mariette's Abecedario), Hubert Robert was offered a trip to Italy by the Comte de Stainville (1719-1785), the future Étienne-François de Choiseul, then appointed French ambassador to Rome.