His father was a carpenter. Sometime in the late 1690s, he was apprenticed to the painter and engraver, Bon Boullogne.. He may also have been a student of François de Troy, based on similarities in their use of color. with the Head of Holofernes In 1704, he married Marie-Gabrielle Petit, a niece of Procopio Cutò, founder of the Café Procope, a meeting place for artists and intellectuals. Economics may have been a motive in the union, as a notary document in the Archives Nationales reveals that she owned a considerable amount of property on Mauritius; along with slaves and "autres effets mobiliers et immobiliers". His brother-in-law, Matthias François Petit, was the intermediary who, between 1740 and 1753, was commissioned to purchase art for the collection of King Friedrich II of Prussia. That collection would come to include numerous works by Boullogne and his students.. Since 1700, his name had appeared in the registry of the Académie Royale, but there is no record of any activity. In 1705, he was commissioned to paint portraits of the sculptor, , who died before it was completed, and the painter, Antoine Coypel, whose portrait was still unfinished by 1709. As a result, he was removed from their list and became a member of the Académie de Saint-Luc instead.. That same year, he may have visited the Netherlands to copy the Dutch Masters. This is inferred from a sudden darkening in his use of color and some copies he made later. Known to have a dissolute lifestyle, he was always in debt and often paid his creditors with small works done on the spot. From 1720 until his death, for unknown reasons, he became much more responsible and productive. He died in 1733, well known and appreciated for his painting, but personally unpopular because he was generally considered to be "bizarre et singulier". Although acknowledged as an exaggeration, he was sometimes called the "French Rembrandt". In 1805, he was the subject of a vaudeville, staged by Maxime de Redon in Paris. His works may been seen in museums throughout France. as well as at the Uffizi in Florence and the Scottish National Gallery.
