Artist Pierre Puvis de Chavannes is recognized as one of Nineteenth century France's greatest mural painters. His experiments in color, technique, and composition earned him the respect and admiration of many Post Impressionist artists, including such luminaries as Vincent van Gogh and Maurice Denis. Even the modern master Henri Matisse appreciated the bucolic beauty of Puvis's paintings.

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was born in Lyons, France, in 1824. In his formative years, he studied art with some notable teachers - Henri Scheffer, Thomas Couture, and Eugène Delacroix all instructed the young painter. As his artistic style matured, Puvis demonstrated a remarkable ability to create what might be termed "decorative" paintings, which, in other words, were works of art that were suited to adorn or decorate the walls of public buildings. Some examples are his grand mural entitled Ave Picardia Nutrix for the Amiens Museum and The Family (also known as Ludus pro Patria), which was also a mural, this time for the Musée de Picardie in Amiens.